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%.
