Premier: 3.5% GDP growth in Armenia in Jan-Sept 2015
“I would like to point out growth in agriculture,” he said. “Maybe many will explain that by good weather. But this is not so. It is wrong to omit investments, intensification of new processing companies’ activities and a significant increase of irrigated land areas.”
The premier said that money transfers from Russia grew in rubles in Jan-Oct 2015, but shrank in dollars by $470 million because of devaluation of the Russian currency.
In his words, these developments have impacted the population’s consumption. As a result, trade shrank 5% in Jan-Oct 2015 giving grounds for skepticism and economic decline outlooks.
But economic decline, he said, was prevented by the government’s efforts, its special attention to top-priority programs and its special decisions.
Abrahamyan said that despite some income and consumption decline, there were some achievements.
He pointed out a 7.2% growth of median monthly salary and 4.4% inflation as achievements.
The prime minister said that experts and international organizations stressed the importance of increasing investments in public infrastructures in such circumstances by widening budget deficit temporarily.
We have chosen this very way and have widened the government budget deficit to 3.5% by intensifying infrastructural programs, which ensure economic growth and employment.
According to the National Statistical Service of Armenia economic growth stood at 3.3% in the third quarter and GDP amounted to AMD 1 516.5 billion or about $3.16 billion. ($1– AMD 484.79). --0----