The Government of Armenia: In 2018, the deficit of the state budget will grow by 3.8% against the backdrop of growth in revenues by 8% and expenditures by 7.7%

ArmInfo. In 2018, the  deficit of the state budget of Armenia will grow by 3.8% - up to  156.9 billion AMD. This will happen against the backdrop of revenue  growth of 8% to 1.3 trillion AMD and expenses - by 7.7% to 1.5  trillion AMD.

Prime Minister of the Republic of Karen Karapetyan made  a statement during the press conference on November 2. In the program  of the state budget for the year 2017 incomes in the amount of 1.2  trillion are laid, expenditures - 1.4 trillion, and as a result, a  deficit of 151.1 billion AMD occurred.

When the revenue and expenditure parts of the state budget are  fulfilled in 2018 in accordance with the envisaged indicators, the  two-year dynamics (2016-2018) will be as follows: revenues - 15.1%  growth, expenses - 3.1% growth, deficit - 44, 9%.

According to actual data for 2016, the RA state budget revenues  amounted to 1.1 trillion (with an annual growth of 9%), expenditures  - 1.4 trillion (with an annual growth of 2.6%), and the deficit -  284.7 billion drams (with an annual growth of 11.2%).

In Jan-Sep 2017, the deficit of the state budget of Armenia totaled  92.8 billion AMD ($ 192.2 million), having decreased by 35.8%  year-on-year, against the growth of 25.1% a year earlier. Armenian  budget revenues accelerated the annual growth rate from 0.4% to 5%,  amounting to 888.4 billion AMD, against which the costs changed the  trend from a 3.4% growth to a 1% decline - to 981.2 billion AMD.

In Armenia, economic activity growth accelerated in the 9 months of  2017 to 5.1% (against 1.6% a year earlier), and the drivers were the  services sector, trade and industrial sector. In September 2017 by  September 2016 growth in economic activity was 2.5%, against a  decline of 2.4% a year earlier. The growth in economic activity in  Jan-Sep 2017 was largely determined by the services sector - by 12.8%  per annum, trade by 12.5% and the industrial sector by 11.9%, and by  a relatively modest 6.5%. Against this background, the agricultural  sector and the construction sector continue to show an annual decline  - by 9.9% and 6.4%, respectively.

Armenia's foreign trade turnover in Jan-Sep 2017 amounted to 2106.1  billion AMD ($ 4367.5 million) with an annual growth of 21.7%. In its  structure, the volume of exports has undergone annual growth of 19.1%  to 745.9 billion AMD ($ 1546.7 million), and imports - an annual  growth of 23.2% to 1360.2 billion AMD ($ 2820.8 million). A year  earlier, in Jan-Sep 2016, foreign trade turnover increased by 5.7%  due to an increase in exports by 19.6% with a decrease in imports by  0.8%. (The calculated exchange rate of AMD as of 30.09.2017- 478.41  AMD/USD1, and the average for Jan-Sep 482.59 AMD/USD1).

According to the IMF forecast, Armenia's GDP growth in 2017 will be  3.5% with a slowdown in 2018 to 2.9%. According to the World Bank  forecast, the GDP growth in Armenia is expected to be 2.7% in 2017,  with an acceleration of the rate in 2018 to 3.1%, in 2019 - up to  3.4%. Fitch improved the forecast for GDP growth in Armenia in 2017  from the previous 2.1% to the current 3.4% with acceleration to 3.6%  in 2018.  The state budget of Armenia for 2017 laid the GDP growth by  3.2%, but the government voiced 5% growth. According to the August  forecast of the Central Bank of Armenia, the GDP growth of Armenia in  2017 will be 3.9-4.8%, and by 2018 real GDP growth by 5.5% is  expected and the main drivers will be the services sector and the  industrial sector. According to the National Statistical Service of  Armenia, Armenia's GDP growth slowed to 0.2% in 2016 from 3.2% in  2015. The foreign trade turnover of Armenia in 2016 grew by 7.4% per  annum, due to the growth of exports by 20% and the release of imports  from the recession by 1.6% growth.