ArmInfo. By December 1, 2019, the public debt of Armenia reached $ 7.2 billion (3.4 trillion drams), slightly slowing y-o-y growth - from 6.3% to 5.8%, due to a slowdown in external debt growth to 3.7% and a continuing relatively high growth in domestic debt - 7.1% (versus 5.9% and 7.7% growth, respectively, a year earlier). This is happening against the backdrop of accelerating growth in economic activity in January-November 2019 to 7.5% per annum from 5.7% in January-November 2018.
According to the Statistical Committee of the Republic of Armenia, as of December 1, 2019, the external public debt exceeded $ 5.6 billion (2.7 trillion drams) or 78.5% of the total public debt, and the domestic one - $ 1.5 billion (735.9 billion drams) or 21.5%.
To recall, the external debt of Armenia conquered a height of $ 5 billion in August 2017, continuing to grow to $ 5.5 billion by the end of the same year, after which there was a slow decline, but since 2019 growth has resumed.
In January-November 2019 alone, the public debt of Armenia increased by 3.5% due to an increase in domestic debt by 11.1% when the external debt trend emerged from the recession by an upward 1.6%. A year earlier, in January-November 2018, the growth rate of domestic debt by 7% was accompanied by a decline in external debt by 1.8%, which reduced the total public debt by only 0.1%.
In the structure of external debt, the government accounted for 90.9% or $ 5.1 billion, and the Central Bank accounted for the remaining 9.1% or $ 512.1 million, against 89.4% and 10.6% a year earlier. Moreover, the external debt of the government slightly slowed down y-o-y growth - from 6.7% to 6%, while the debt of the Central Bank continued to decline, accelerating the pace from 7.2% to 10.3%. In January-November 2019 alone, a 2.6% increase in the external debt of the government was accompanied by a decrease in the external debt of the Central Bank by 7%, while a year earlier in the same period a decrease in the external debt of the Central Bank and the government was observed by 5.1% and 1.4% respectively.
In the structure of the domestic public debt, government bonds dominate - by December 2019, the share was 92.1% ($ 1.4 billion or 677.7 billion drams), with a y-o-y increase in absolute value by 19.2%, and in January-November alone - by 17.4% , while in January-November 2018, the increase was 9.1% with the same y-o-y growth. The remaining 7.9% fell to the share of Armenian Eurobonds - $ 121.7 million or 58.1 billion drams, with a y-o-y decline in absolute value by 28.6%, and in January-November alone- by 10.2%, against the growth a year earlier by 9.9 % both in January-November 2018, as well as in y-o-y terms. Since 2019, in the structure of the domestic public debt, the article of guarantees, which previously amounted to invariable $ 9 million, no longer appears. A year earlier, as of December 1, 2018, the share of government bonds in the domestic public debt was 86.9%, Armenian Eurobonds - 12.4%, and guarantees - 0.7%.
