ArmInfo.According to the results of 2020, a 2% decline in Armenia's GDP is expected. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced this on May 16 at a press conference in Yerevan.
According to him, the decline is due to the consequences of coronavirus, but, nevertheless, there are opportunities to end the year on a higher note. <We will be focused on work, there are opportunities to end this year with good results>, the head of government noted.
Nikol Pashinyan also noted that funds from various sources will be attracted to pay off the state budget deficit. Thus, the IMF will provide $ 298 million. The Prime Minister expressed confidence that there will be no problems with attracting financial resources. Moreover, the government even has the opportunity to choose the best proposals.
To recall, the National Assembly of Armenia at an extraordinary meeting on April 29 approved amendments to the law "On the state budget of 2020". As RA Minister of Finance Atom Janjughazyan noted then, the amendments are aimed at solving the problems that arose with the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, the Armenian government will not try, at its discretion, to revise the state budget expenditures. In order to ensure the sources of financing available to the state for the expenditures of the state treasury, not only loans, but also tax revenues are required. For this reason, as Janjughazyan noted, all tax obligations will be charged in full. The exceptional situation obliges the government to take the path of increasing the deficit of the state budget and increasing the volume of public debt.
So, according to him, the total deficit will amount to 324 billion drams, having increased by 169 billion drams compared to the planned level. The previously planned level was 161 billion drams. Thus, the total amount of necessary funds to pay off the state budget deficit will be 260 billion drams. The deficit is seen by the cabinet by attracting credit resources, issuing government treasury bonds and next tranches of Eurobonds.
The Minister informed that the International Monetary Fund, which agreed to provide about $ 300 million to Armenia, will become one of the sources of financing. As the head of the Ministry of Finance noted, Armenia is considered by creditors as a stable and dynamically developing borrowing state. But in the future, the country should abandon borrowing and become a donor country itself.
