ArmInfo. In 2025, the share of the state budget deficit of Armenia in the country's GDP will be 5.5%. This was stated by the Minister of Finance of the Republic of Armenia Vahe Hovhannisyan during the plenary session of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia on November 12, answering a question from Artsvik Minasyan, a member of parliament from the opposition faction "Armenia".
The MP recalled that, according to the government program, the state debt can be increased to a greater extent through internal sources and in the national currency. Meanwhile, in 2025 alone, it is planned to allocate over 609 billion drams for servicing the state debt, of which about 256 billion drams will be from internal borrowing and 344 billion drams from external borrowing. Minasyan emphasized that in 2025 alone, 394 billion drams will be allocated for servicing the state debt. Thus, the oppositionist continued, next year all citizens of the country without exception - from infants to the very old - will have to give up 12 thousand drams in favor of servicing the state debt. In this regard, the deputy asked the minister how many promised kindergartens and schools will be built or repaired at the expense of foreign loans?
In response, Vahe Hovhannisyan noted that the medium-term expenditure program envisages reducing the size of the state debt. In 2025, it was almost possible to bring the ratio of state debt in foreign currency and in national currency to an equal level - 50% to 50%. Thus, it was even possible to exceed the previously planned indicators. As for the indicators for next year, as Hovhannisyan noted, this will be due to a number of factors, including the level of demand for Armenian Eurobonds on the international market.
Discussions are currently underway on the most acceptable option for the ratio in order to avoid new pressures caused by the increase in interest rates. The goal of the country's government, the minister emphasized, is to reduce interest rates in parallel with the reduction of the refinancing rate by the Central Bank. Hovhannisyan added that work is underway to implement a program for repaying the state debt in exchange for environmental quotas. However, neither the World Bank nor the Asian Development Bank have such mechanisms, and the government is trying to resolve the issue in a bilateral format.
"Negotiations on this issue have already entered the practical phase, and I think that next year we will have news on this project," the minister said, adding that significant amounts should not be expected within the framework of this program.
The minister previously reported that in 2025, Armenia intends to attract loans in the amount of $1.247 billion. According to the draft state budget, the deficit in 2025 will amount to 609.4 billion drams or 5.5% of GDP, against 482.9 billion drams or 4.6% of GDP in the budget approved for the current year.
