YEREVAN, March 4. /ARKA/. Armenia’s gross external public debt dropped by 2.9 percent in 2014 from the beginning of the year to $3,785.2 million, according to the the National Statistical Service.

According to the official data, about 68.8%, or $ 2,604.6 million of the external debt were multilateral loans, the bulk of which - about 42.5% or $1,609.1 million- were owed to the World Bank. That represented an increase of 1.5%.

Some $21.3 million were owed by the government to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), $44.6 million to the European Investment Bank, $62.8 million to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), $34.5 million were owed to OPEC, $311 million to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), $442 million to IMF and $79 million of the debt were loans provided by the European Union.

Bilateral loans stood at $504.16 million, a decrease of 8.1% from the beginning of the year. The major portion - $252.5 million were owed to Japanese International Corporation Agency (JICA), $211.9 million to German KFW, $25.3 million to the USA, $8.7 million to France and $5.7 million to Abu Dhabi Development Fund.

Also $16.3 million of the external debt were loans provided to Armenia by commercial banks, a decline of 2.6%.

Armenia’s external debt, generated by sale of Eurobonds to non-residents stood at $659.2 million, while the debt generated by sale of government bonds to non-residents stood at about $0.9 million.

At the end of December 2014 Armenia’s total public debt was worth $4,441.5 million (about 40% of GDP), a reduction of 3.5% compared to the end of 2013. -0-