YEREVAN, January 12. / ARKA /. A senior official of the World Bank (WB) said today Armenian economy may expand 4-5% this year. Speaking at a news conference, Jean-Michel Happi, head of the World Bank Yerevan Office, said the WB hopes that implementation of a set of reforms and current tax and budget policies of the government, debt consolidation as well as improved business environment and favorable climatic conditions would be instrumental this year to help the economy grow 4-5%.
“We witnessed a dramatic decline of agriculture and construction sectors in 2010 coupled with drastic fall in foreign remittances,’ he said, adding that the Armenian economy is still vulnerable..
According to Armenian National Statistical Service, Armenian agricultural output slashed by 14.5% in the first 11 months of 2010 and the construction sector fell by 3.8%.
Jean-Michel Happi said addressing the problems of the vulnerable economic sectors is going to be a real challenge this year.
“We are closely cooperating with our partners showing support for implementation of a wide spectrum of reforms and business improvement,’ he said. -0-
