We Have a Light National Debt Compared to Our GDP: Pashinyan

During a government meeting, Minister of Finance Vahe Hovhannisyan addressed the indicators of national debt. According to him, the share of domestic debt in the national debt has increased and now makes up 40 percent of the total debt.

“This is partially attributed to the appreciation of the dram. When we talk about the decrease in the debt-to-GDP ratio, part of that is due to the dram’s appreciation, since a significant portion of our debt is in foreign currency, while another part is due to the rapid economic growth rates. On the other hand, the budget deficit has been lower than what we initially planned, which has also had its impact. Currently, we are working on a medium-term debt strategy, where we will present how we plan to manage our debt in the coming years and how we intend to move forward by reducing the main risks that exist,” the minister stated.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan also added, “We are told that we have over 10 billion dollars in debt, but we need to show our citizens that our national debt is quite light compared to our GDP. Essentially, with 46 percent of GDP, Armenia is considered to have a relatively light debt burden.”