Outside impacts on Armenia’s economy warded off thanks to mobilization of domestic resources
Karen Chshmarityan, Armenian economy minister, said Tuesday that it has become possible to ward off outside impacts on Armenia's economy thanks to mobilization of domestic resources in the first half of this year.
He placed a four-percent economic growth on record adding that «there can be no two ways about it – this is statistics».
Commenting on international organizations' outlooks on GDP growth in Armenia, that is worse than projected in the government budget, the minister said that in the past years outlooks didn't coincide with the real economic growth as well.
«Let's work, and this will produce better results,» he said. «The government will do whatever it can do to ensure the projected tax revenue and to support Armenia's business people.»
As for tax revenue, it didn't grow as GDP grew, because of many factors, such as income centralization and growth in the categories that initially enjoys tax exemption.
Speaking about prospects for transition to the ruble as single currency in the Eurasian Economic Union's space, Chshmarityan said this depends on how Armenia's fellow members in the union will react to this idea.
«It would be good to pay for goods bought in a country in this very country's currency, but there are no arrangements so far,» he said.
According to the latest reports, the World Bank forecasts 0.8% economic growth in Armenia in 2015, Asian Development Bank a 1.6% growth and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development as well as the International Monetary Fund expect stagnation and zero economic growth.
Fitch agency expects a mild recession triggered by deterioration in things in Russia and Moody's forecasts a 2.3% growth.
The Central Bank of Armenia says GDP growth in Armenia will stand between 2.1 and 2.5 percent in 2015.
In the government budget for 2015, GDP growth is projected at 4.1% and inflation at 4% (±1.5%). -0----