Armenian MP says there are signs of economic recovery

YEREVAN, August 31. /ARКА/. Armenia's economic recession is over, according to Babken Tunyan, a parliament member from the ruling majority My Step faction. Speaking at a televised discussion on economic developments, Tunyan, who is also chairman of a parliament committee on economic affairs, said there are clear signs of economic recovery.

According to him, the rate of decline has slashed and there are all the prerequisites for an increase in daily indicators.

Tunyan said the biggest decline was recorded in April and May, when the country was in a deep lockdown and virtually everything was idle with construction sector slashing by 23.4%.

According to him, now there is a lot of activity in the construction sector, which will soon be reflected in statistics.

“There is a recession in the services sector, but there are also areas that have posted growth, for example, the IT industry showed a double-digit growth - about 30%. However, much will depend on epidemiological situation,” Tunyan said.

According to the National Statistical Committee, the country's economic activity registered a decline of 5.7% in the first seven months of 2020 when compared to the same period in 2019. Armenia's GDP growth in the first quarter of 2020 amounted to 3.8% compared to the same period in 2019, reaching an absolute figure of 1 trillion 241 billion drams.

On April 29, the National Assembly of Armenia approved a revision of 2020 budget indicators, prompted by the spread of COVID-19. The budget forecast for GDP was reduced to a decline of 2%, down from the originally projected growth of 4.9%. The budget deficit was increased to 340 billion drams, or 5% of GDP, up from previous projection of  2.3%. 0 ($ 1 - 487.24 drams). -0-