Tuesday, November 2 2021 16:20

ArmInfo.The Armenian government, forecasting a 7% GDP growth by the end of 2022, did not count on opening the borders with Turkey, as well as restarting the  project for the exploitation of the Amulsar gold mine.

Minister of  Economy of Armenia Vahan Kerobyan stated this on November 2 at the  preliminary hearings of the draft budget for next year in the  standing committees of the parliament, answering the question of MP  from the Armenia bloc Artutr Khachatryan, who asked how the financial  authorities plan to ensure such growth by the end of next year.

The opposition MP also asked if the government had hoped for the  reopening of the Amulsar gold mine, as well as for the opening of the  Armenian-Turkish border.

According to Vahan Kerobyan, it is too early to talk about the  possible impact of the opening of the Armenian-Turkish border on the  Armenian economy. It is also premature to talk about restarting the  program for the development of the Amulsar mine, since, first of all,  it is necessary to wait for the completion of the criminal case and  its results. In addition, according to him, even if such a decision  is made, it will take about a year to return the mine to working  condition.

According to the head of the Ministry of Economy, the Armenian  authorities are planning to change the body of the economy and move  from economic growth based on consumption to an economy based on  investments.

According to him, today private investment has grown to 15% of GDP  compared to 2020. As part of the government's program of activities  for the next 5 years, by 2026, Armenia plans to increase the share of  total accumulation to 25% from 17.3% in 2020, and through foreign  direct investment - 6% of GDP.

By the end of 2022, as the Minister pointed out, investments in fixed  assets (in fixed assets) from 3.6% at the end of 2021 will grow to  22.5% of GDP, state investments will reach 46.2% from 5.6% of GDP,  expected in 2021. According to the document, private investment will  reach 15.6% of GDP from 0.6% expected at the end of this year. At the  same time, exports will double - from 7.6% of GDP to 14.3% of GDP,  and imports from 8.2% of GDP to 15.3% of GDP.

As the head of the Ministry of Economy noted, it would be wrong to  think that the Republic of Armenia is capable of painlessly mastering  all investment programs. Many programs face various obstacles, he  pointed out. As Kerobyan noted, the Ministry's Assistance Center is  carrying out daily work, the aim of which is to help these  investments achieve their goal, while simultaneously solving the  legislative problems that caused these obstacles.

To recall, according to the government's activity program for  2021-2026, over the next 5 years, the Armenian government undertakes  to ensure a minimum annual economic growth of 7%, and in the presence  of favorable external economic conditions - at the level of 9%.  According to the results of the planned measures, the current  unemployment rate of 17-18% should be below 10%, the poverty level  should be halved, and extreme poverty should be completely  eliminated, and pensions (now the basic pension is 30 thousand drams)  should be increased to meet the needs of the minimum consumer basket  (55 thousand drams). The size of the minimum wage will also be  increased from the current 68 thousand drams to 85 thousand drams. In  addition, the investment / GDP ratio will be increased to at least  25%, and the foreign direct investment to GDP ratio will be at 6%.  The growth of the total factor productivity will be at least 5%, and  the share of small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in the  republic's GDP by 2026 will be increased from 27% to 55%.