Vahan Kerobyan: In 2022, GDP per capita in Armenia will exceed $6,000

ArmInfo. This year, GDP per capita in Armenia will exceed $6,000, Armenian Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan told ArmInfo on the sidelines of the first anniversary  event of the opening of a representative office of the Symbiotics  international investment company in Armenia.

 In this regard, he mentioned that previously the GDP per capita in Armenia was $4.6  thousand, with the increase of which, according to the minister,  Armenia will move to another league of countries with the  corresponding volume of GDP per capita. As the minister explained,  such an significant increase, first of all, is due to the high  economic growth, high inflation affecting nominal GDP, as well as the  revaluation of the Armenian dram. Speaking about the last factor,  Kerobyan mentioned that the ministry has initiated state assistance  programs to neutralize the impact of dram appreciation for exporters.

In this regard, he pointed to the program of economic modernization,  under which the state finances/subsidizes the import of equipment for  enterprises. More than 300 companies have already benefited from this  program, the total amount of financing of which amounted to over 27  billion drams.  "We see that more and more companies are now in the  process of negotiations, and I am sure that the set goals will  definitely be achieved, and we will actually be able to really change  the structure of the economy, make it more productive, modern,  energy-saving. All this together will influence the further growth of  the economy", Kerobyan said.

However, despite all the efforts and many programs initiated by the  Ministry of Economy, the head of the department noted that the main  problem related to access to the latter's financial resources has not  yet been resolved.

Kerobyan emphasized that banks are increasing their portfolio, but  the economy still needs more oxygen than is currently available. In  addition, the minister pointed to an increase in the key rate by more  than 2%by the Regulator for the current year, which also, in turn,  affected the rise in the cost of financing.

In this regard, the Minister of Economy welcomed the activities of  investment companies in Armenia, working with the financial sector of  the country, including KfW, EBRD, EIB, WB, Symbiotics, while speaking  about Symbiotics, he noted that the company is quite active in  Armenia, its portfolio is approaching $150 million.

According to the RA Statistical Committee, the volume of total  foreign investment (all types and forms of investment, ed. note) in  the real sector of the Armenian economy increased by 54% in 2021  (against a 39% decline in 2020), reaching $2.8 billion. The share of  FDI in total foreign investment in 2021 was 29% (against 26% in 2020)  or $798 million, which is 71% higher than in 2020 (against a 21%  decline in 2020).  According to statistics, the first two places in  terms of total foreign investment are held by Russia and Germany,  which are also leaders in terms of the FDI index. And in different  periods, Cyprus, the Netherlands and France take the next three  places in terms of the total volume of foreign investments.