YEREVAN, July 15. /ARKA/. The Eurasian Development Bank, in a fresh issue of its macroeconomic review said that Armenia’s debt burden has increased to 50.1% of GDP in late May 2016 from 48.7% in late 2015.



Armenia’s state debt has grown 3.8% to $5 270.6 million by late May mostly due to 2.7% foreign debt growth.



In Armenia’s government budget for 2016, the state debt-GDP ratio is projected at 49.4% and foreign debt-GDP ratio at 42.8%.



The state debt is projected to amount to $5.569 billion in 2016, of which 86.6% will be the country’s foreign debt.



“Overrun of state debt threshold, 50% to GDP, increases macroeconomic risks, leaving less room for fiscal maneuvering for absorbing inside and outside shocks,” the bank specialists say in the review.



They also say that in the first quarter of this year the fiscal policy remained expansionary in nature.



The government budget deficit amounted to AMD 31.1 billion and was filled from domestic sources.

Social spending and government service expenses continued growing in the first quarter. The inflow into the budget revenue was impacted by adverse inside and outside factors in the first quarter 2016, such as 25.9 year-on-year import decline and 2.2% year-on-year construction decline.



In the 2016 government budget, deficit is projected at 3.5%. --0----





14:17 15.07.2016