Monday, December 23 2019 19:04

ArmInfo. There is a certain concern in connection with the structure of Armenia's economic growth. This opinion was expressed on December 23 at the discussion  "Economy in 2019: results and disturbing trends" by Chair of the RA  NA Standing Committee on Economic Affairs Babken Tunyan.

According to Tunyan, the statistics on the socio-economic situation  in Armenia for 2019 are good. "I will not say that they are  excellent, but good: both in tourism and in other sectors of the  economy, good results have been recorded, which makes the country a  leader in economic growth not only in the region, but also among the  CIS countries," he said.

At the same time, MPs from the ruling "My Step" faction share the  concerns of a number of experts regarding the structure of GDP  growth. 

"In order to say that everything is fine, it is not enough to ensure  a growth rate of 7%, 5% or even 10%. The quality of growth is much  more important, in particular, due to which industries growth was  recorded, how inclusive it was,"  he stated.

Tunyan recalled that during the outgoing 2019 sufficient steps were  taken in the legislative plan, which will enter into force only at  the beginning of 2020. This concerns the establishment of a flat  income tax scale, the introduction of the concept of  micro-entrepreneurship with an untaxed annual threshold of 24 million  drams, a reduction in income tax, and an increase in pensions by 10%.  "The citizens of the country will immediately feel the results of  these tax reforms," he said.

In general, despite the presence of a number of problems, the  economic growth rate is not bad. "There are tasks related, in  particular, to the speed of the reforms, as there are many  expectations, and the world is developing very quickly," he said.   The head of the parliamentary committee expressed confidence that in  2020 the growth rate will be more impressive.  To note, according to  the Statistical Committee of the Republic of Armenia, the growth of  economic activity in January-October 2019 accelerated to 7.1% from 6%  for 10 months of 2018, while GDP growth for 9 months of 2019 was  fixed at 7.5%. The growth in activity was largely supported by the  services sector - by 15.1% per annum, and to a slightly lesser extent  - by trade and the industrial sector - by 8.9% and 8.8%,  respectively. And in the construction industry, growth slowed to  4.5%. The energy complex was in decline - by 2.7%.  According to the  forecasts of the Ministry of Economy, the final indicator of economic  activity for 2019 will be slightly more than 7%, and GDP growth will  be even greater. According to the forecasts of the Ministry of  Finance, Armenia will close the 2019 with economic growth in the  range of 6.9-7.1%.