ArmInfo.Armenian Minister of Economic Development and Investments Tigran Khachatryan does not agree with the statement that there are no measurable indicators in the five-year government program. "There are two very important indicators in the government's program - the Cabinet of Ministers said that the export of goods and services will be the engine of economic growth," he told reporters on February 8.
In particular, as the Minister pointed out, according to preliminary data for 2018, exports of products and services rose to 38% relative to Armenia's GDP. "It was announced that their share in GDP will reach 43- 45% - this is possible if we demonstrate 8-10% export growth every year. This is quite a high and ambitious growth," the Minister said.
The second indicator in the program of the Cabinet, the increase in net investment in fixed assets. "Companies have certain assets in the form of equipment, buildings, which have wear and tear as a result of y-o-y economic activity. Excluding this wear and tear from investments, we will receive net investments," the Minister said. This indicator should reach 23-25% of GDP by 2023, against the current 18-19%, which is a necessary basis for long-term and sustainable growth.
According to the RA Statistical Committee, in the first half of 2018 compared to the same period of 2017, the volume of total foreign investments in the real sector of Armenia's economy grew by 12.7% to $ 1.2 billion. At the same time, the volume of foreign direct investment (FDI) declined by 20.5% - up to $ 262.1 million. Moreover, only for the Q2 of this year the volume of total foreign investment in the real sector of the Armenian economy sank by 17.2%, with FDI falling by 59.5%. Exports in 2018 amounted to $ 2,411.9 million