Ministry of Finance: Following the results of 2018, the total state debt will be about 60% of GDP

ArmInfo. At the end of 2018, the total state debt will be about 60% of GDP or over $ 7 billion. This, responding to the question of ArmInfo, was announced on September 28 after the government session by Armenian Minister of Finance Vardan Aramyan.

The budget deficit-2018, according to the draft financial document, submitted today for government approval, is planned at a rate of 156.9 billion drams. Of these, about 80 billion drams will be financed from external sources, the rest from internal resources. Again, as Aramyan noted, Armenia should increase its debt burden. "This is inevitable, since no country is able to cope with the deficit without attracting funds from outside," he explained. In the line of external borrowing, as the minister said, it is mainly about the funds raised for the implementation of investment programs - on quite favorable terms.

By the end of 2017, Armenia's national debt will increase by $ 400 million and the state debt including the Central Bank's debt will be about $ 6.7 billion. By the end of 2018, the debt will grow another $ 300 million - to over $ 7 billion or 60% of GDP. At the same time, he urged not to worry much. According to the minister, the figure, only at first glance, the figure can cause concern and all the more unnecessary to talk about default. "For this, Armenia, first of all, must face the problem of liquidity, in line with its obligations." The debt structure has also been chosen very successfully - the average life expectancy of external obligations is 17-18 years, "the minister explained.  Recall that under the current law, Armenia's public debt should not exceed 60% of GDP, and the restriction applies only to government debt, without borrowing from the Central Bank. At the same time, according to the law, if the state debt of Armenia exceeds 50% of GDP, the government is obliged to cut expenses, and the budget deficit should not exceed 3% of GDP. According to the data of the Ministry of Finance, the total state debt of Armenia reached $ 6.259 billion by August 31, 2017. As of August 31 this year, the external debt was $ 5.020 billion, and domestic - $ 1.238 billion. From 2017 to 2020, the projected annual growth of government debt on average will be $ 480 million..