Armenian economic growth pace may slow down in 2013

YEREVAN, March 6. / ARKA /. Armenia’s economic growth pace is very likely to slow down this year as the global and particularly European economic downtown (about 45 percent of Armenian exports in 2011 went to Europe) shows no signs of recovery, Sergey Ignatov, head of the Yerevan Office of the Eurasian Development Bank, said.

According to IMF, World Bank and EBRD estimates, Armenia’s economy will expand this year by 4.6%.

"The economic slowdown may be caused by weakening external demand and lower prices for non-ferrous metals, which will directly affect Armenia’s mining and processing sectors, the country’s main export-oriented industries, as well as export and fiscal revenues and macroeconomic stability",  he said in an exclusive interview to" ARKA ".

On the other hand, according to him, the weak global economy may have an effect on the economies of the countries which are the main source of remittances and foreign direct investment.

"Accordingly, there is an additional risk of weakening domestic consumer demand, stimulated by remittances and investment demand, which until now (after the crisis in 2009) remains low," Ignatov said.

According to the National Statistical Service of Armenia, total foreign investment in the real sector of the economy in January-September 2012 compared to January-September 2011 decreased by 35.2% to $391.1 million, while foreign direct investments (FDI) in the real sector in the first 9 months of 2012 were approximately $221.3 million, down from $479.4 million for the same period of 2011. -0-