Friday, February 12 2016 22:11

ArmInfo.Renovated Constitution will ensure a legal platform necessary for development of the country's economy and more rapid progress, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan said in his address to the Armenian people.

Setting a range of important tasks to the economic policy executives, the president made a point of, first, ensuring further maintenance and increase of macro-economic stability to avoid economic crisis amid the global macroeconomic instability.  In this view, the president said, Armenia's indicators in 2015 were better than the ones of other countries in the region. Armenia showed a 3.1% economic activity in 2015 - the highest indicator in the region - and a 3.7% average annual inflation - the lowest indicator in the region. The president recalled that the national dram devaluated 1.8% against US dollar, which is the lowest rate of the currency devaluation in the region. The average salary was increased 7.8% in 2015 to 184,441 drams. At the budget-funded organizations, the salary grew 8.2% amid 7% growth of this indicator at private companies, the president said.

"Negative signals from outside continue and we must keep implementing the tasks set," the president said urging more weighted and coordinated fiscal and monetary policies with a focus on tax collection and efficiency of expenditures. 

"Although we managed to save the financial market from extreme shocks during the last crisis, now we must be more careful and resist the negative influence on the financial market. I am sure the Central Bank has enough capacities and products to implement the tasks set and respond to the negative factors coming from outside timely. Second, it is necessary to improve the investment environment and raise more investments," the president said.

Nevertheless, he believes that a 3.1% economic activity is good as comparing to other countries in the region but not enough to achieve a social-economic development meeting the country's mid-term goals. To that end, the president stressed the necessity of improving the business conditions, including for SME. "The task number one for us must be timely exposure of the reasons of short-term and long-term problems of the export-oriented companies and help settling these problems by means of the existing financial tools and creating new ones, if necessary. The government-private sector cooperation must be intensified too. It is necessary to create business unions to settle the above tasks," Serzh Sargsyan said. -

WB forecasts 2.2% economic growth for Armenia in 2016, IMF upgraded the outlook for Armenia's economic growth to 2.5% growth (2.2% for 2016).EBRD forecasts slackening of the GDP growth to 2%, while the Central Bank of Armenia forecasts 1.6%-2.7% growth. The budget 2016 envisages a 2.2% GDP growth.