Armenian economy back on recovery track, political analyst says
YEREVAN, August 30. /ARKA/. The Armenian economy is back on recovery track, political analyst Aram Safaryan said today at a news conference, recalling that as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and the 44-day war in the autumn of 2020 in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone, Armenia’s economy slashed by 8% in 2020.
"However, after the devastating impact of last year's coronavirus pandemic, the data for the first six months of 2021 shows a significant recovery growth, which inspires optimism," he said.
"Almost all the sectors of the economy have shown growth and positive development trends. Summing up the results of the year, we will be able to say exactly how significant the growth was for our economy and, most importantly, tangible for our society," he said.
Safaryan stressed that there are unique opportunities for the development of the Armenian economy, since its leading partners in the Eurasian Economic Union, mainly Russia and Kazakhstan, are also recording growth, having managed to reach pre-pandemic indicators.
"Russian economists and our partners predict that there is a positive situation in the EEU markets, with Russia and Kazakhstan having embarked on a path of stable growth," he said.
"Much will depend on the Armenian government's ability to consolidate business and society around development objectives," he said.
Earlier, the National Statistical Committee reported that Armenia's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 13.1% in the second quarter of 2021 as opposed to the same time span of 2020. It said the nominal volume of Armenia's GDP estimated at market prices amounted to 1,575,488.1 trillion drams. Compared to the first quarter of 2021 the growth was 17.4%.
Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on July 1 that the economic growth projection for 2021 was revised upward from the previously forecast of 3.2% to 6 %.
On June 15, Armenia's Central Bank chairman Martin Galstyan said the regulator had again revised upward its economic growth forecast for 2021 to 4.6%. According to him, the upward revision was prompted by the growth in the services sector, which the bank believes will grow by 6.2% this year, up from its earlier forecast of 1.2%.
The World Bank forecasts a 3.4% growth for 2021, a 4.3% for 2022 and a 5.3% for 2023. The IMF expects 1% growth in 2021.
According to S&P Global Ratings, Armenia's real GDP growth will be 2.5% in 2021 and 4.5% in 2022-2023. -0-.
