Former head of Central Bank: economic activity figures in nine months of 2022 'impressive'
YEREVAN, August 31. /ARKA/. In an interview with Civilnet.am, former head of Armenia's Central Bank Bagrat Asatryan described the economic activity figures in the first nine months of 2022 as 'impressive', noting that the growth was accelerated largely by the Russian-Ukrainian conflict making Armenia benefit from an influx of quality specialists from Russia and from an increase in remittances.
"Remittances in the first 8 months more than doubled compared to the same period last year, and the net balance increased by 5.5 times. That is, about $3 billion were remitted to Armenia in eight months, which is $1.5 billion more than last year. The net balance is also considerable - about $1.4bln, which allows to resolve some of existing problems, as the level of private foreign investments remains at zero level," he said .
But according to Asatryan, one day these factors that have been driving the growth will disappear, and the government should be ready for this.
"It is necessary to have fundamental pillars on which the economic development can be built tomorrow," he explained.
Asatryan noted the government should take advantage of the favorable environment created today for the import of technology and products that can boost exports and fill the gaps that have emerged in the Russian market.
Speaking of global inflation, he said that fighting inflation is not a priority now because Armenia’s resources are insufficient for it.
'We should think about preserving domestic financial stability with higher macroeconomic indicators and think about developing the industry,' he stressed.
Overall, according to Asatryan, the serious problem is that the government cannot implement a major project.
"Our GDP will reach about $20 billion this year, but we haven't been able to implement any project for more than 10 years at 10% of that," he said.
Armenia's government's growth projection for 2022 is set at 7% and inflation at 4% (±1.5%).
According to official data, Armenia's economic activity grew by 14.1% in January-September 2022 compared to the same period of 2021. In the consumer market, the 12-month inflation in September 2022 was 9.9%. -0-
