Armenia's national debt is quite considerable; in 2022 it will reach 4 trillion 740 billion drams. Minister of Finance Tigran Khachatryan noted this during the debates on the 2022 draft state budget at Monday’s joint meeting of the standing committees of the parliament.

According to him, this national debt is currently about 70% of Armenia’s GDP.

"Nevertheless, this indicator will fall below the 60% level in the next five years. By the end of 2022, the national debt will make up 69% of the total debt. We seek to change the [national debt] makeup on the account of increasing the domestic debt, so our domestic debt will make 31% at the end of next year,” Khachatryan pledged.

The finance minister of Armenia added that, the share of taxes in the country’s GDP shall reach 25% in the next five years.

"According to the results of 2021, that ratio is expected at the level of 22.5%. Therefore, in the next five years, it shall be increased by at least 0.5 percentage points annually," the Armenian official emphasized.

He added that the government spending to pay the national debt will continue to increase next year. Accordingly, in 2022 they will increase from 185.5 drams to 214.4 billion drams, or by 15 percent.

"The percentage debt burden will also increase from 4.6 to 5 percent. But, as I have already said, this will happen on the account of the growth of the domestic debt within the general portfolio of the national debt. In this case, we are talking about state loans. Thus, although we [i.e., Armenia] will pay higher interest rates, those payments will remain inside the country, and will not go abroad," Khachatryan explained.