Armenia's state debt equals half of GDP
By Rashid Shirinov
The state debt of Armenia amounted to 2.545 trillion drams ($5.36 billion) as of the end of the first half of 2016.
This was announced by Deputy Finance Minister, Chief Treasurer of Armenia Atom Janjughazyan in the Armenian Parliament while presenting the report on the implementation of state budget for the first half of 2016, Armenian Report stated.
A total of 2.309 trillion drams ($4.86 billion) of them made up the debt of the government, and 236.8 billion ($500 million) refer to the Central Bank. In the structure of government debt, external debt amounted to 1.892 trillion drams ($4 billion), while 416.7 billion drams ($877.8 million) made the inner debt.
Noteworthy, the forecasted GDP in 2016 amounts to 5.443 trillion drams. Thus, by the end of the first half-year the national debt amounted to 46.7 percent of GDP.
Earlier, Armenian experts warned that the increase in external debt of Armenia will continue till the end of the year.
The rate of economic growth in Armenia falls down on the background of the rising state debt,.
Thus, the economic growth in Armenia in the second quarter of 2016 made 1.5 percent, compared to reportedly 4.5 percent in the first three months of the current year.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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