"In fact, everything will be much worse."
The Government of Armenia in recent years accumulates external and internal debt in large volumes, which could lead to default, Armenian newspaper "Haykakan Zhamanak" reports.
According to official forecasts, Armenia`s national debt in 2015 will amount to $ 4.9 bn, while in 2008 this figure was $ 2.13 bn, of which the share of foreign debt accounted for only $ 1.82 bn.
Thus, the newspaper says, it turns out that if in 2008 the public debt amounted to 18% of GDP, in 2015 it will reach around 44.5%, an increase by 2.5 times over seven years.
"But the reality is much worse. The fact that in the first quarter of 2015, our national debt has already exceeded 52% of GDP ... it is possible that the figure will approach the level to 55-57% of GDP at the end of the year," the newspaper writes.
At the same time, according to the publication, the index of government debt does not take into account the companies` loans under the government guarantees.
For example, "at the request" of the government the Yerevan TPP took a bank loan of $ 50 mln and redirected it to the repayment of wage arrears to workers of the "Nairit" plant.
At the same time, this amount is not recorded anywhere, and it is not clear from which sources the government intends to repay it.
Hence, it turns out that the amount of debt is much higher than recorded in official statistics, and it is possible that this figure exceeds the threshold of 60% of GDP, which, according to the Armenian legislation, is valid for a maximum level of public debt.`
"Haykakan Zhamanak": Armenian economy may face default
07 July 2015
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