Armenia opts to cover budget deficit with OPEC money

Armenian Hraparak newspaper has written that Armenia is about to take out a loan worth 50 million euros ($54 million) from OPEC, which will increase its ever-growing public debt.

“The loan is issued to Armenia as part of 'Green, Sustainable and Inclusive Development Programme', but the draft decision states that “budget support funds will be directed to the “Plan 2023 of the Republic of Armenia on the State Budget” to finance the deficit determined upon the law of the Republic of Armenia. Therefore, timely getting of loan funds is of great importance from the point of view of financing expenses envisaged in the state budget categories,” Caliber.Az reports citing the newspaper.

“This is another case when Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan talks about increasing the Armenian budget in unprecedented volumes, but in fact, the measures as part of the budget are not implemented due to the deficit, so Armenia takes out a loan and increases the public debt, which exceeded the threshold of $10 billion long ago,” the message says.