YEREVAN, October 20. /ARKA/. It is not clear so far how a possible double-dip global crisis would affect Armenia’s economy, Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan said at the 31st session of the Eurasian Economic Community in Russian St. Petersburg Wednesday. “The 2009 crisis has hit hard at our construction sector, triggering a 43% decline, while now there is uncertainty about how the double-dip crisis can affect our economy,” he said. “Other countries are anxious about this as well.”
Consultations with the World Bank, he said, don’t give a clear answer to the question how troubles in the world economy can strike our economy.
“The first problem is whether we’ll manage to ensure higher-than-four-percent economic growth,” Sargsyan said. “First of all, this is connected with two factors – expectation of investors and money transfers from abroad to Armenia.”
The premier said that the government planned to end this year with 4.6% economic growth and 5% inflation.
“We attach special importance to performance of the 2012 budget, since we set the bar high and plan to collect 0.6% more taxes than this year, and this is an important step forward,” he said.
Sargsyan also put special emphasis on Armenia’s interest in integration in the Commonwealth of Independent States and Eurasian Economic Community.
“We are considering new platforms which are being created as an additional impetus for economic growth in the next year,” he said. “They will also allow us to handle the risks appearing in the world economy.”
As a whole, he said, Armenian government is preparing the country for the possible double dip by taking standard measures, which are accepted in industrial society. Sargsyan said the government intends to narrow budget deficit as well as to handle inflation, payment balance and trade balance.
“We need to think over some new instruments which have never been before, and in this connection headway on CIS and Eurasian Economic Community inspires us,” he said.
On September 29, Armenian government approved the 2012 draft budget, in which revenue is projected at AMD 910 billion, expenditure at AMD 1042.5 billion and deficit at AMD 132.5 billion.
The projected revenue is 6.8% larger than that in the 2011 budget (AMD 852.4 billion). Expenditure is enlarged by about AMD 41.5 billion, compared with 2011. In the 2012 draft government budget, GDP growth is projected at 4.2% and deflator index at 4.6%. International Monetary Fund forecasts 4.3% GDP growth and 3.3% inflation in Armenia for 2012. ($1 – AMD 377.45). -0-
