{"id":277173,"date":"2026-07-29T14:30:03","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T10:30:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/armbanks.am\/?p=277173"},"modified":"2026-07-29T14:30:05","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T10:30:05","slug":"world-bank-does-not-see-significant-risks-in-armenias-public-debt-rising-to-50-of-gdp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/armbanks.am\/en\/2026\/07\/29\/277173\/","title":{"rendered":"World Bank does not see significant risks in Armenia’s public debt rising to 50% of GDP"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

YEREVAN, July 29. \/ARKA\/.<\/strong> Armenia’s public debt could increase to approximately 50% of GDP by the end of 2026, but the World Bank does not view this level as a significant threat to the country’s macroeconomic stability, said Armine Manukyan, Senior Economist at the World Bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“According to the results of the first five months of 2026, Armenia’s public debt amounted to 41.3% of GDP, which is lower than the figure at the end of last year,” Manukyan said, responding to a question from ARKA at the presentation of the World Bank report “Armenia’s Economic Pulse: Towards Poverty-Reducing Growth through More Effective Fiscal Policy.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to her, the expected increase in the debt burden in the second half of the year will be due to increased capital expenditures, a growing state budget deficit, and the attraction of new loans, which had previously been deferred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The World Bank does not see significant risks even if public debt reaches 50% of GDP. The Armenian authorities are quite cautious in managing debt and are committed to maintaining it at a moderate level,” Manukyan said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She noted that 50% of GDP is the second threshold stipulated by Armenia’s fiscal rule. Exceeding it is not prohibited, but in that case, the government must submit a debt reduction program over the next two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Manukyan noted that the medium-term public expenditure program envisages higher borrowing, but the actual amount of funds raised will depend on budget execution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Last year, public debt was also projected to reach 50% of GDP, but by the end of the year, it was 46.7%,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Manukyan, the public debt-to-GDP ratio is also influenced by economic dynamics: with higher GDP growth, the debt burden relative to the size of the economy decreases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Reaching 50% of GDP in itself does not pose a serious threat, especially if debt reduction is planned for the future. However, it is necessary to see how the situation develops in the second half of the year,” Manukyan noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Armenia’s public debt<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier, Deputy Minister of Finance Avag Avanesyan stated that the Armenian government aims to increase the public debt-to-GDP ratio to 45%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Ministry of Finance, Armenia’s total public debt as of March 31, 2026, amounted to $14.077 billion, compared to $13.906 billion as of December 31, 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the structure of public debt, the government’s debt amounted to $14 billion 68.95 million, of which external debt was $6 billion 672.6 million, and internal debt was $7 billion 396.3 million. The debt of the communities amounted to $8.18 million, including external debt of $8.03 million, and internal debt of $0.15 million. The external debt of the Central Bank of Armenia at the end of March 2026 amounted to $482.4 million.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Armenia’s public debt could increase to approximately 50% of GDP by the end of 2026, but the World Bank does not view this level as a significant threat to the country’s macroeconomic stability, said Armine Manukyan, Senior Economist at the World Bank.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":276794,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","tstyn_error":""},"categories":[12315,12139,9216],"tags":[12318],"class_list":["post-277173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-announces","category-economy-en","category-news","tag-wb"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t