Thursday, June 18 2026 16:44
Alina Hovhannisyan

Luys Foundation: Public debt service burden remains high

Luys Foundation: Public debt service burden remains high

ArmInfo.The public debt-to-GDP ratio decreased in 2025, but the debt-service burden remains high. This is stated in the analysis of the Luys Foundation, which this time examined the performance indicators of the 2025 state budget.

Despite the increase in the absolute volume of public debt, the  government's debt-to-GDP ratio decreased from 47.7% to 47.2%. The  Fund called this decrease a positive trend, but debt-service costs  remain high and a concern.

In particular, interest payments in 2025 amounted to 349.1 billion  drams, or 10.6% of total budget expenditures. "The high level of  interest payments is a problem, as a significant portion of budget  funds is allocated to debt servicing, limiting their use for other  priority areas, including capital investments and social programs,"  the analysts noted.

As a reminder, the 2025 state budget of Armenia ended with revenues  of 2 trillion 886.5 billion drams (an execution rate of 101.3%) and  expenditures of approximately 3.3 trillion drams. The budget deficit  was recorded at 3.7% of GDP. Economic growth amounted to 7.2%, and  tax revenues exceeded 2.7 trillion drams. Revenues amounted to 2  trillion 886.5 billion drams (an increase of approximately 12%  compared to 2024), while tax revenues and state duties totaled 2  trillion 725 billion drams. Expenditures under the main economic law  amounted to 3.3 trillion drams.

Significant funds were allocated to infrastructure development and  the social sphere. For example, the actual expenditures of the  Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs amounted to 874.1 billion drams.  Capital expenditures reached 6.2% of GDP, exceeding the budget  deficit (by 283.8 billion drams).

The RA public debt as of March 31, 2026, amounted to 5.311 trillion  drams, an increase of 11 billion drams compared to the previous  period.

It is worth noting that Armenia's public debt exceeds $14.5 billion,  which is approximately 52.9% of the country's GDP. The per capita  debt burden is approaching $4,700 per person. The following  indicators stand out in the structure of the total public debt:  external debt is approximately $6.9 billion, and domestic debt is  also approximately $6.9 billion.