Tigran Davtian

YEREVAN (ARKA), June 23–Armenia is back on the track of economic development, Finance Minister Tigran Davtian said today when commenting on the reported 8.8 percent GDP growth for the first five months of the year.

‘Today we can say that economic growth in Armenia is on a steady track and I think we should have serious expectations of even greater than predicted full-year economic expansion,” he said. The projected economic growth for this year in the budget is 1.2 percent. 

Speaking to journalists, Tigran Davtian said the country’s real sector economy is seeing an intensive recovery. “For the first time over the last several years we have registered a substantial industrial growth as well as in the energy sector,” he said.

In his words, although all economic growth indicators should be reviewed against the backdrop of last year’s severe decline, “it is important that the growth rate for Armenian exports is larger than that of imports.”

According to the latest government data, Armenia’s foreign trade in Jan.-May totaled $1.7 billion (or 686.6 billion dram) rising year-on-year by 34.5 percent. Armenia’s industrial output in Jan.-May grew by 12.1 percent year-on-year to 305.1 billion dram.

The construction sector reported a 12.5 percent growth rising to 108.8 billion dram. From April to May, construction growth rose by 109.9 percent.

Electrical power production in the Jan.-May period grew by 14.6 percent to 2.6 billion KWh.