July 3, 2026
The government of Armenia approved the signing of the agreement on raising a loan of 80 million euros with the OPEC development fund at the session held recently.
The document was published on the government website. “According to the agreement, the International Development Fund of OPEC undertakes to provide the Republic of Armenia with a budget support loan in the amount of 80 million euros,” it is said in the justification of the decision. The loan is provided for a period of 18 years with a grace period of five years. The interest rate is floating, six-month Euribor (European Interbank Offered Rate) plus 1.56%. As of June 18, it was 4.166%.
In the broader context of external borrowing, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved more than $25 million in loans to Armenia shortly after Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s party won the parliamentary elections.
It is reported on the website of the IMF that the executive board of the fund has completed the first review within the framework of the “Stand-by” loan agreement (SBA) with the republic. This It gives Yerevan access to an amount equivalent to 18.4 million SDRs (Special Drawing Rights), which is about $25.1 million.
The SBA program aims to support government policies and reform programs to maintain economic and financial stability and to ensure sustainable, inclusive and long-term economic growth.
The total availability under the agreement reached 36.8 million SDRs (about $50.2 million). It was approved by the IMF Board on December 1, 2025. Armenian authorities continue to consider it as a precautionary measure.
“Precautionary arrangement” is a credit program status in which the member country has the right to receive the agreed amount, but is not obliged to do so and can refuse it.
In general, the program in Armenia is proceeding according to plan, notes the IMF. At the end of December last year, all quantitative performance criteria were met. The fund noted the need to continue efforts aimed at increasing the stability of the economy and announced that they welcome structural reforms aimed at diversifying exports and improving the business environment.
As of the end of 2025-beginning of 2026, the external debt of the Armenian government amounted to approximately 6.68 billion dollars, while the total state debt (including domestic liabilities) amounted to approximately 14.78 billion dollars (approximately 5.3 trillion AMD). External debt is approximately 45% of the total public debt. public debt has grown at a more moderate rate in recent years (about 21% growth over the past eight years).
State of Armenia The debt has increased by 110.6% since May 2018, when Nikol Pashinyan became the prime minister, according to TASS calculations, which are based on the state statistics of the republic. on the open data of the statistical committee.
According to the data of the socio-economic situation of Armenia as of April 30, 2018, the national debt of Armenia amounted to 6.87 billion dollars, and as of April 30, 2026 – 14.46 billion dollars. Moreover, the peak indicators were recorded in February 2026, when the state debt reached the mark of 14.78 billion dollars, which is 115.2 percent more than N. At the beginning of Pashinyan’s prime ministership.
Moreover, from December 2025, the Armenian government has changed the method of calculating the state debt, “foreseeing” not including the internal and external obligations assumed by the government, as well as the debt of the Central Bank. TASS calculations took into account these changes, both the liabilities and the debt of the Central Bank.
In recent years, economists they note, that in the event of dram exchange rate weakening, the debt burden will increase dramatically, because in addition to the increase in external debt, domestic debt has also increased dramatically. Thus, the state will find itself in a debt labyrinth, the exit from which will mostly be connected with new loans. But it is noteworthy that the new “method” of debt calculations does not raise questions for the IMF…
Meanwhile, according to the data of the statistical committee, the permanent population of Armenia as of April 1, 2026 was almost 3.1 million people.
Thus, every resident of Armenia now owes about 4,665 dollars. Meanwhile, as of April 2018, that figure was $2,312.
Alexey Baliev
vpoanalytics.com
Translation by Zhanna Avetisyan
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