Armenia is in debt trap, former CB chairman says
Former Chairman of Armenia’s Central Bank (CB) voiced concerns over Armenia’s growing external debt at a news conference on Tuesday.
“Armenia’s loan mounts, the economy fails to grow. This is the dynamics of the past ten years. Today we find ourselves in a debt trap, with 1/10 of our revenues being directed to pay off some debts. This is the inheritance that we are going to leave to our descendants,” Bagrat Asatryan said.
In his words, the country’s foreign debt is the one that bothers, hampering the economic development. “The numbers are huge, totaling to a million dollar. We are still serving now, with no word about repayment yet,” he highlighted.
The economist is not concerned with the growth of domestic debt, viewing it as a means of developing financial markets. He also highlighted the need to use those resources in a reasonable manner.
Economist Atom Margaryan, in attendance of the conference, said in the current circumstances the government must keep a balance between directing the resources to the state budget and to the private sector, saying imbalance trends in this respect are currently observed.