IMF expects "around 1%" GDP growth for Armenia in 2021April 22, 2021 - 14:23 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The International Monetary Fund (IMP) expects GDP growth of around 1% in 2021 and 3.5% in 2022 in Armenia. An IMF team held virtual staff-level discussions with the Armenian authorities during April 6–21 to discuss recent economic developments, the outlook, and the policy priorities ahead. The Armenian economy has been severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and military hostilities unleashed by Azerbaijan in fall 2020. GDP dropped by 7.6% in 2020 reflecting the decline in services and trade. Annual inflation accelerated to 5.8% in March 2021 amid recent global food inflation and dram depreciation. “The recovery is likely to be protracted. While there is uncertainty about the pace of the recovery, our conservative outlook expects growth of around 1 percent in 2021 and 3½ percent in 2022. Inflation is projected to peak in the first half of 2021 before declining to around 4 percent by year-end as the temporary impact of imported food inflation and the pass-through from recent depreciation dissipate," IMF said. “The immediate policy priories are to protect vulnerable households (including displaced Nagorno-Karabakh residents), accelerate planned capital expenditure, and fast-track large-scale vaccinations to support economic recovery. These items should be prioritized within the existing 2021 spending envelope." The Central Bank of Armenia earlier revised its economic growth forecast for the country in 2021. Its governor Martin Galstyan said in mid-March Armenia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will expand by 1.4% instead of 2% that was forecast before the start of the year. 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 | Scholz hopes Armenia-Azerbaijan peace treaty will be signed this year German Chancellor Olaf Scholz hopes that a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan will be signed this year. Ucom equips four bus stops in Ijevan with free Wi-Fi Ucom now provides free Wi-Fi coverage in smart bus stops in four communities of Ijevan. Armenians stage more campaigns against territorial concessions to Azerbaijan Protesters blocked more roads across Armenia on Friday, April 26 in continuing attempts to scuttle territorial concessions to Azerbaijan. Czech-Armenian military cooperation discussed in Yerevan A delegation led by the Director General for the Industrial Cooperation Division of the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic visited Armenia. |