YEREVAN, June 5. /ARKA/. Armenia’s public debt-to-GDP ratio in 2018 was 55.8%, up from the projected 54.2%, Armenian Finance Minister Atom Janjughazyan said today in parliament, which convened to look into the execution of the state budget last year.

According to him, by size of foreign debt, Armenia is a country with a low debt burden. He said the government managed to keep the national debt manageable and avoid additional risks. In his words, at the end of 2018, Armenia’s national debt stood at $6 billion 923 million, including a $6.313 billion debt owed by the government. The rest was owed by the Central Bank. He said the domestic debt stood at $1.390 billion. The rest was external debt.

He said GDP growth was projected at 4.5%, but the actual growth amounted to 5.2%. Revenues in 2018 amounted to 1 trillion 365 billion drams, up from the projected 1 trillion 308 billion drams. Expenditures amounted to 1 trillion 527 billion drams, up from the projected 1 trillion 465 billion drams.

The deficit-to-GDP ratio was 1.8% or 105.4 billion drams, down from the projected 156.9 billion drams. The taxes to GDP ratio was 21% or 1 trillion 258 billion drams against the anticipated 1 trillion 248 billion drams.

He also noted that the median salary in 2018 was 172,000 drams, including 149,000 drams in public sector and 186,000 drams in private sector. The unemployment fell by 1.5% to 16.3%. -0-