YEREVAN, November 17. /ARKA/. The level of Armenia’s public debt to GDP by the end of 2020 will be 66.5%, against 49.9% in 2019, and in 2021 it will reach 67%, Armenian Finance Minister Atom Janjughazyan said on Tuesday.
According to the previous forecast of the government, the level of the GDP by the end of 2020 was to be 65% and drop to 63% in 2021.
“The changes are conditioned by the pandemic, the war in Artsakh, and the existing threats,” Janjughazyan said.
Reducing the level of public debt, according to him, will be possible by increasing the level of servicing the public debt, for which 192 billion drams are planned to be allocated in 2021 from internal resources.
In general, in his words, the level of the state debt in Armenia is assessed as stable, but containing risks.
According to him, a high level of public debt can cause risks, including in terms of attracting new credit funds.
“We may have certain temporary liquidity problems, although with a competent and reasonable fiscal policy, we have not previously encountered such a problem,” Janjughazyan said. He also noted that in the long term, solvency is more important.
“All possible funds that will be attracted as the state debt should be used rationally – for investments in infrastructure and increasing economic potential,” Janjughazyan said. In this regard, he pointed out the importance of improving the level of governance.
According to the October forecast of Fitch Ratings agency, the national debt of Armenia will grow from 53.5% of GDP at the end of 2019 to 63.9% at the end of 2020.
According to the National Statistical Committee, the total public debt of Armenia at the end of July 2020 amounted to $7.939. 525 billion, an increase of $220,682 million compared to June. . ($1 – 497, 14
