Armenia's President Serzh Sargsyan has signed the
National Assembly-passed law on making an amendment in the Republic of Armenia
Law On Profit Tax, press-service of the president reported.
To note, on September 10, the Armenian
National Assembly amended the Law "On Profit Tax" in the second and
final reading. Deputy Finance Minister
of Armenia Suren Karayan said that the amendments imply exempting the non-
residents buying government bonds from the profit tax. At the moment 10% profit
tax is imposed on these persons. The deputy minister thinks that the amendments
will allow enhancing the investors' interest in the government securities of
Armenia, especially, in Eurobonds. He said that it is early to speak of the
volume of issue of the Eurobonds, because the process has just started. Karayan
disagrees with the opinion that the issue of Eurobonds will result in growth in
the foreign debt. He said that the current foreign debt is equal to 40% of the
country's GDP, and this level is not critical. To ensure inflow of investments,
the Government has made a decision on placement of the Eurobonds. In autumn the
Government is going to launch negotiations on the issue of government bonds in
foreign exchange. In the meantime, this will not reduce the revenues of the
state budget.
To recall, the Government of Armenia made
a conceptual decision on issue and placement of sovereign bonds on
international capital markets and preliminarily set the first tranche at $500
mln.
To note, on 8 August the government of
Armenia approved the key underwriters of the first Armenian Eurobonds: Deutsche
Bank AG (London Branch), HSBC Bank plc. and J.P.Morgan Securities plc.
To note, Fitch Ratings agency has recently
assigned the expected "BB-(EXP)" rating to the first issue of the Armenian
Eurobonds.