10:59,
YEREVAN, MAY 29, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian government is spending debt only for capital purposes and it doesn’t take debt for raising salaries or pensions, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told lawmakers at a joint committee session for preliminary debates of the 2022 government budget report.
“We have a debt management strategy. We’ve also recorded in the government program that we will be satisfied if the debt-to GDP ratio stands below 60% by 2026,” Pashinyan said, adding that the debt-to-GDP ratio was 46,7% in 2022, while in 2017 the number was 58,9%.
Nominal debt has increased unavoidably, Pashinyan said, noting the loan projects such as the North-South and other programs, which were planned to be carried out by foreign resources from the beginning.
The COVID-19 pandemic also claimed much resources and the debt increased back then as well.