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Armenian Growth Forecast ‘Not Revised’


Armenia --Workers at a plastics manufacturing plant in Yerevan.
Armenia --Workers at a plastics manufacturing plant in Yerevan.

The Armenian government has not officially revised downwards its economic growth projections for this year, according to Deputy Finance Minister Pavel Safarian.

In an interview with the “Chorrord Ishkhanutyun” daily published on Thursday, Safarian downplayed a 1 percent growth forecast contained in a three-year budgetary spending program that was approved by the government earlier this week. He said it is a mere “baseline figure that was discussed with our international partners and the International Monetary Fund in particular.”

“A 4.1 percent growth rate in this year’s state budget continues to be the official forecast,” said Safarian. “There are still possibilities of having a rate of economic growth exceeding the forecast 1 percent,” he added.

Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamian insisted in May that the Armenian economy will grow by “at least 2-3 percent” in 2015. He said that the government might even succeed in meeting its 4.1 percent growth target.

The World Bank predicted a growth rate of only 0.8 percent for Armenia last month. The IMF, for its part, said earlier in June that the country will likely post zero growth in 2015.

Both the World Bank and the IMF blamed the ongoing recession in Russia for Armenia’s worsening macroeconomic performance. They expect faster growth in the country next year.

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