Armenian government to be conservative in attracting new loans

YEREVAN, September 25. /ARKA/. The Armenian government will be conservative in attracting new loans from international financial organizations, finance minister Vardan Aramyan said at a press conference on Monday. According to him, the government will try to use credit funds as productive as possible and make them play a catalytic role in attracting private investments.

The minister explained that the government plans not to attract new credits and develop new rules and criteria which will be used in raising funds.  Aramyan said that preference will be given to sub-loans provided to the private sector. "We will attract low-interest loans, which we will provide to business entities to enable economic activity and growth," Aramyan said.

The minister said also that the priority will be given to those programs that will significantly increase the productivity of a particular sector, including the development of infrastructure. He added that a special attention will be on the development of regions.

According to official figures, Armenia’s collective public debt surged by another $60 million in July to over $6.2 billion. The country’s external debt amounted to $4.985 billion, having increased by $42.7 million in one month.

About $4.417.5 billion of the external debt was owed by the Armenian government (an increase of $35.1 million), and another $567.4 million were owed by the Central Bank (an increase of $7.6 million).

Armenia's domestic debt at the end of July stood at $1.216.6 billion, an increase of $18 million. Some $1.081.9 billion were owed to resident holders of government bonds, $125.6 million were owed to holders of government bonds in foreign currency and $9 million were owed as government guarantees.

The government expects that by yearend the overall public debt will amount to $6.245 billion, up from $5.849 billion in late 2016. -0-