YEREVAN, April 29. /ARKA/. At the end of March, 2016 Armenia's total public debt stood at $5.196.1 billion, an increase of 1.5% compared to February, according to the National Statistical Service. When compared to the beginning of the year, the total public debt was up by 2.3%.

According to the NSS, the external debt of the country at the end of March 2016 stood at $4.405.7 billion, an increase of 1.5% or $63.6 million from the previous month.

Some $3.917.8 billion of the external debt was owed by the government, an increase of $55.5 million and $487.8 million were owed by the Central Bank, an increase of 8$ million.

Armenia’s domestic debt at the end of March amounted to $790.3 million, an increase of $12 million. Of that amount approximately $702.2 million were owed to resident buyers of government bonds and the debt to holders of foreign currency-denominated bonds stood at $86.1 million.

According to the state budget, the country's public debt in 2016 will make 49.4% of GDP, while the ratio of external debt to GDP will be 42.8%. The total public debt by the end of 2016 is expected to grow to $5.569 billion, of which 86.6% will be external debt. -0-