Armenia's economic growth in 2016 will be 0 percent at best (video)
The World Bank has revised its economic growth forecast for Armenia, Gohar Gyulumyan, a senior economist at the World Bank, said on December 9. “Armenia's economy entered into recession from July to October, with the economic growth index declining every month,” she said. According to official data, the economic downturn made 2.8 percent in the third quarter of 2016 as compared with the same period of the previous year. “Our expectations of the economic growth were positive [2.4 percent] in October 2016. Based on it, we expected 2,8 percent growth in 2017. Now that we have the data for January-October which show that Armenia's economic activity index was over 0.4 percent, we think the economic growth in 2016 will be 0 percent at best,” she stressed. The WB has not published the figures yet. World Bank's expectations of the 2017 economic growth in Armenia will not exceed 2 percent. “The official poverty rate in 2015, which was published a few months ago, shows that it has fallen only by 0.2 percent. In order to have major achievements in reducing poverty and addressing social problems, Armenia should have annual economic growth of 5 percent or more,” Gohar Gyumumyan said in conclusion.
