Pashinyan: Government follows principle “After us the deluge”

2013 was an unprecedented year for Armenia in terms of external debt service that reached $861 million, the deputy of Armenian National Congress (HAK) faction Nikol Pashinyan said in the parliament today during discussions of the annual report on the 2013 state budget execution.

In his words, another such peak is expected in 2020 when Armenia will have to pay about $1 billion.

Pashinyan asked Chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) Arthur Javadyan how expedient such a peak is and whether negotiations should be conducted so that the process of credit payment could go more smoothly.

“Isn’t such a sharp growth detrimental to the economy?” HAK faction deputy asked.

CBA chairman Arthur Javadyan agreed with Pashinyan’s remark, saying: “Of course, we had a peak in this matter, but the structure of Armenia’s domestic and external reserves is in line with its external debt structure”. According to Javadyan, the state takes all such peaks into account and Armenia is able to pay its debt.

Chief Treasurer Atom Janjughazyan clarified for his part that the peak was conditioned by Armenia’s decision about early repayment of a $500 million Russian loan, which was repaid after another external loan was received.

“The Armenian government dealt with the issue of external debt management and its repayment,” he noted.

In response, Nikol Pashinyan said that it follows from these answers that a political decision was taken and the repayment was postponed until 2020, based on the principle “After us the deluge”.