YEREVAN, September 22. /ARКА/. The public debt of Armenia has risen by $1 billion, as reported by Armenian Finance Minister Vahe Hovhannisyan, who presented the ratio of this metric for the first half of this year in comparison to December of the previous year.
According to Armstat, Armenia’s total public debt stood at $13.8 billion as of June 30, 2025, an increase from $12.8 billion as of December 31, 2024.
“This increase is primarily attributed to the significant issuance of Eurobonds amounting to $750 million in March, with their yield on the secondary market decreasing following the agreement signed on August 8 (the Washington Declaration – ed.),” Hovhannisyan stated on Monday during a meeting of the parliamentary committee on financial, credit, and budgetary matters, where he presented a report on the execution of the state budget for the first half of 2025.
The Finance Minister highlighted that, as of June 30, 2025, the public debt in nominal terms amounted to 5.3 trillion drams, equating to $13.8 billion, and noted that the public debt increased by 4.5% in dram terms and by 7.9% in dollar terms.
“The discrepancy in the changes between dram and currency indicators is attributed to the variations in the dram-to-US dollar exchange rates utilized for debt conversion at the end of 2024 and June 30, 2025 – 396.6 and 384.3 drams, respectively,” Hovhannisyan explained.
Hovhannisyan further indicated that, in dram terms, government debt rose by 4.8%, while the debt of the Central Bank saw a decrease of 2.2%.
He reassured that the risk indicators associated with the government’s debt portfolio remain within acceptable limits.
“The weighted average interest rate in the first half of 2025 has remained stable at 7.2% compared to the end of 2024,” he remarked.
The minister also noted that all other indicators are manageable and align with target levels.
“Domestic debt continues to surpass external debt, accounting for 52%. The proportion of dram-denominated debt is 51%, in contrast to 49% for foreign currency debt,” he added. ($1 = 382.85 drams).-0-
