ArmInfo.In 2018, the net inflow of transfers to Armenia amounted to only $ 557 million. Executive Director of the Union of Banks of Armenia (UBA) Seyran Sargsian said this at the final press conference."Despite the upward trend, however, unfortunately, we did not achieve the figures recorded in 2013," he said, noting that according to the results of last year, the inflow of transfers to Armenia amounted to $ 1.7 billion while outflows reached $ 1.2 billion.
Arta Anesyan, the chairman of the UBA, expressed a different opinion on this issue: "You say, unfortunately, but in my opinion, the less dependence on external resources, the more developed the economy will be, and citizens will have a job that meets their requirements".A.Anesyan stressed that it would be preferable to receive external resources in the form of investments, the level of which is still quite low. "On average, direct investment in the country's economy is $ 250 million, which is 10 times less than in neighboring Georgia," the SBA chairman said.The development of Armenian economics, according to A.Anesyan, mainly depends on bank lending today. "And it's right when the economic growth factor is an efficient dynamically developing capital market. I very much hope that the situation will improve over time, and investor confidence in the Armenian market will increase.
We intend to contribute to this process through the correct positioning of the country, the economy, and the development of good business programs, "he concluded.According to the forecasts of the World Bank, the ratio of foreign direct investment to GDP in Armenia in 2019 will be 3.5%, and in 2020 - 3.9%. And in terms of GDP growth in Armenia, the WB forecasts 4.3% in 2019 and 4.6% in 2020, with greater growth coming from the industrial sector - 6.1% in 2019 and 5.3% in 2020.According to the Central Bank of Armenia, in 2018 the inflow of transfers of individuals to Armeniaslowed growth to 1.7% from 14.6% in 2017, reaching $ 1,786 billion.This growth rate of outflow of transfers slowed slightly - from21.2% in 2017 to 20.1% in 2018, reaching $ 1.188 billion. This worsenedthe dynamics of the net inflow of transfers from 7.1% growth in 2017 to22.1% decline in 2018, forming at the level of $ 597.2 million. In the inflowRussia's share declined in 2018 from 60.6% to 58.8%, and in the outflow, on the contrary, increased from 38% to 39.7%.According to the RA Statistical Committee, in January-September 2018, compared with the same period of 2017, the volume of total foreign investments in the real sector of the Armenian economy grew by 10.8% to $ 1.7 billion.
FDI in total foreign investments for the first 9 months of 2018 accounted for 22, 6% (vs. 30.7% a year earlier) or $ 385.4 million, which is lower than the figure for the same period of 2017 by 18.4%. The total data of 2018 on foreign investment has not yet been summarized.According to the Financial Ratings of Banks of Armenia as of December 31, 2018, prepared by ArmInfo IC, the volume of bank crediting to the economy was 2.1 trillion drams, with an annual output of 8.8% growth in 2017 in 2017 by 8.8%. The dominant sectors of the economy in terms of lending are SMEs, the trade sector and the industrial sector.