YEREVAN, November 2. /ARKA/. The Armenian government's debt by the end of 2020 will make 65% of GDP, and in 2021 it will slightly decrease to 63%, Finance Minister Atom Janjughazyan said on Monday, presenting the draft state budget for 2021 to parliamentary commissions.

According to him, 2020 is a crisis year, and in 2021, the recovery will not be instantaneous and abrupt, therefore, there will be an increase in the national debt.

“However, as early as 2021, it is planned that compared to 2020, we will have a decrease in the national debt by 1.7%,” Janjughazyan said.

He recalled that the permissible threshold was raised to 60% of GDP, and until the level of public debt is reduced, the Ministry of Finance will keep it at a manageable level.

“This is a very important aspect not only in the context of the current situation, but also for the future, since the possibility of attracting additional funds will depend on this, and it is necessary to maintain a balanced approach. By the end of 2020, it is expected that the ratio of government debt to GDP will be 65%, in 2021 it will decrease to 63%,”Janjughazyan said.

Reducing the level of the state debt, according to him, will be possible due to the increase in the level of servicing the state debt, for which 192 billion drams are planned to be allocated in 2021.

According to the October forecast by  Fitch Ratings, Armenia's national debt will grow from 53.5% of GDP at the end of 2019 to 63.9% at the end of 2020.

According to the National Statistical Committee (NSS), the total public debt of Armenia at the end of July 2020 stood at $7.939.525 billion, an increase of $220,682 million compared to June. At the same time, since the beginning of the year, the total national debt has grown by $618,269 million.

According to the NSS, the external public debt at the end of July 2020 amounted to $6.055.237 billion, an increase of $73,591 million compared to the previous month. Of that amount $5.576.651 billion were owed by the government (an increase of $70,015 million), while the debt of the Central Bank stood at $478,586 million (an increase of $3,576 million). Armenia's domestic debt at the end of July amounted to $1.884, 288 billion, an increase of $147,092 million.  ($ 1 - 493.6 drams). -0-