Armenia’s Foreign Debt Reached $727.5mln.
YEREVAN (Golos Armenii daily), 01/30/99 — Armenia’s foreign debt reached $727.5mln. by the end of 1998, of which $542.4mln. is Government’s debt, and the rest is of the Central Bank, said Head of the Department for servicing Foreign Debt of the Ministry of Finance and Economy Bella Gevorgian.
She said that the main creditors are the World Bank ($297mln.) and the International Monetary Fund ($182.5mln.) Th last only provides loans to the Central Bank. Next loan providers are Russia ($98.1mln.), USA ($43.3mln.), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development ($41mln.), European Union ($32.1mln.), Turkmenistan ($15.1mln.), IFAD ($7.4mln.), France ($3.9mln.), Japan ($300,000), and Germany ($280,000).
Ms. Gevorgian said that foreign debt of the republic was 37.5% of Gross National Product by the end of last year. The peak of the foreign debt payments will come in the years 2000-2007. $77mln. will be paid in the year 2001. Than, $70mln. will be paid annually up to the year 2004, and $65-66mln. after 2005.