Armenia GDP growth remains strong, says World bankDecember 17, 2019 - 11:54 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenia's GDP grew by a strong 7.9% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2019, the World Bank said in its monthly economic update on the country. "This brings the cumulative GDP growth in 2019 through September to 7.5 percent yoy, driven largely by private consumption," the Bank said in a statement. "On the production side, most of growth (5.5 pp) came from trade and services and the rest from industry (mainly manufacturing (1 pp), mining (0.6 pp) and construction (0.3 pp)). Manufacturing grew by 9 percent, while output in mining rebounded by 18 percent yoy, as the sector continued to recover from the production disruptions in 2018. Agriculture continues to contract." Inflation in November continued to edge upwards. Consumer prices increased by 1 percent in November yoy, up from 0.9 percent annual inflation in the previous month, but still below the lower bound of the target range of the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) of 4 +/-1.5 percent, the statement said. With imports growing strongly and exports moderating, the trade deficit widened. After growing by 33 percent yoy in September, exports in October grew by only 1.3 percent yoy. The sharp adjustment was due to slower, though at 30 percent yoy still very strong, growth of export of precious stones and metals (mostly gold). Top stories Yerevan has dismissed Turkey’s demand to shut down the Armenian nuclear power plant as “inappropriate”. Armenia will loan 2.9 billion drams to Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh), according to a draft government decision. The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan has “strongly condemned” Armenia’s decision. Kerobyan has said that for the first time in the history of Armenia, the volume of foreign direct investments amounted to about $1 billion. Partner news | Kazakh Foreign Minister arrives in Armenia Kazakh Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu on Monday, March 18 arrived in Armenia for a two-day trip. Aliyev touts “good chances” for normalizing ties with Armenia Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has declared that there are “good chances” for normalizing relations with Armenia. Putin secures fifth term as Russian president Russian President Vladimir Putin has secured a fifth term in office through a dubious national plebiscite. Top Armenian, Indian defense officials discuss cooperation The discussions primarily focused on enhancing cooperation in the defence sector between Armenia and India. |