RA Prime Minister: European Union is not ready to finance 100% of  development programs implementation in Armenia

ArmInfo.European Union is not ready to finance 100% implementation of development programs in Armenia, and in this issue the republic itself must show its  participation, RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated on March 7 at  a government meeting, summing up the results of the visit to Brussels  and the talks with the EU top leadership.

According to him, to achieve the goal it is necessary to ensure a  high level of tax collection, to improve the tax administration, to  ensure the growth of the economy. It is also important, as the Prime  Minister believes, to effectively use external sources of financing,  the vast majority of which should be directed to the development of  infrastructures. However, as Nikol Pashinyan noted, if there are  problems related to the ratio of taxes / GDP, government debt  management, the question of legislative regulation will arise. "I  myself, being a member of parliament, always voted against loan  agreements, because I believed that the funds were not used  effectively under a corrupt government. Further studies showed the  validity of that position, especially when it comes to some  programs," Nikol Pashinyan stressed. In this context, he pointed out  the need to improve the effectiveness of credit funds.

In order to resolve the issue of manageability of public debt, the  government intends to hold talks with the Central Bank, which,  according to the head of the Armenian government, will be held within  the next month. According to the results of these discussions, a  corresponding decision will be taken, which will also be the subject  of discussions with public organizations and the country's parliament  in order to come to an agreement.

Earlier, ArmInfo, citing RA Minister of Finance Atom Janjughazyan  reported that in 2019 Armenia would increase national debt by $ 512  million, of which $ 21 million through the Central Bank. As Atom  Janjughazyan stated, loans will be raised to cover the state budget  deficit. Thus, in 2019, the state budget deficit of Armenia will make  151.6 billion drams (about $ 313 million) or 2.2% of GDP, against  156.9 billion drams (about $ 325 million) or 2.7% as foreseen in  2018. GDP. The deficit will be financed from external sources - in  the amount of 97.5 billion drams (about $ 202 million), and 54.1  billion drams (about $ 112 million) due to internal resources.  According to Artur Hambardzumyan, a representative of the State Debt  Management Department of the Ministry of Finance of Armenia, next  year foreign borrowings in the amount of about $ 152.1 million (74  billion drams) out of the stipulated $ 490 million will be spent on  budgetary assistance. Another $ 337.6 million or 164.2 billion drams  will be attracted to targeted programs.  $ 292.6 million will be  spent on servicing borrowings, of which $ 175 million will be used to  pay off the principal amount of external debt and $ 117.6 million to  interest rates on loans. The largest loan of $ 343 million is planned  to be received from Russia, of which $ 192.9 million has been  approved. $ 53.1 million is expected from the Asian Development Bank,  $ 50.4 million will be raised from the International Bank for  Reconstruction and Development, the International Development  Association will provide $ 9.7 million, the European Investment Bank  - $ 9.4 million, the German KfW Bank - $ 7.5 million, the European  Bank for Reconstruction and Development - $ 7.3 million, France will  provide $ 3.3 million, the Eurasian Bank - $ 3 million, the  International Fund for Agricultural Development - $ 2.8 million and  the OPEC Fund for International Development - $ 0.2 million. In  general, $ 152 million will be received for budgetary assistance, the  energy sector will receive $ 133 million, of which $ 104.8 million  will be allocated to the Armenian NPP modernization program. It is  noteworthy that various programs of reforming the public sector will  attract $ 103 million, and only $ 45 million for road construction, $  32 million for education, $ 17 million for solving problems in the  field of irrigation, $ 5 million for water supply and $ 3 million for  garbage collection. To note,  in 2019, as a result of fiscal policy,  the level of public debt will be stabilized. So, it is expected that  the ratio of public debt to GDP from 55% in 2018 will decrease in  2019 to 53.43% of GDP. In general, by the end of 2019 the state debt  will grow to $ 7.468 billion.