YEREVAN. – There are no default risks in Armenia, and it is not observed in the near future, former MP, economist Vardan Bostanjyan, told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

He noted this reflecting on the statement by First President of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrosyan—who is also founding chairman of the opposition Armenian National Congress Party—that an economic catastrophe, a default is expected in Armenia in the near future.

“In economic sense, Armenia is not in an arena of default risks at this moment,” stressed the economist. “Today, Armenia has, first and foremost, a problem of serving [i.e. repaying] external debt. But regardless of the fact that we [i.e. Armenia] have an inefficiency in terms of management of these funds, Armenia did not have any problems, for decades, with respect to international financial institutions, and it still doesn’t have, in terms of serving the debt.

“[In addition] the social programs, whether they are good or bad, 40 percent of the [country’s] budget goes to the implementation of such programs. (…) There is no sign yet in Armenia that these social programs also are not being executed.

“Proceeding from these two main situations, we can assert that there are no default risks [in Armenia], and it is not observed in the near future.”

Nonetheless, as per Bostanjyan, Armenia’s economy is in a dire situation, and the country’s authorities do admit to this.