ArmInfo.The Central Bank has improved its forecast for 2023 on GDP growth in Armenia to 5.8% from the previous 4.6% (against the actual 12.6% growth in 2022). This was stated on March 14 during a press conference by head of the Central Bank of the Republic of Armenia Martin Galstyan.
At the same time, he stressed that the main drivers of growth will be the service sector and the construction sector. In particular, M. Galstyan noted that high growth rates in construction will be ensured by one major project.
At the same time, the head of the Central Bank noted that agriculture will also show growth in 2023, and the industrial sector will provide 5.2% growth.
It should be noted that the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank forecast a slowdown in Armenia's GDP growth in 2023 to 4.5% and 4.1%, respectively. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) expects Armenia's GDP growth to slow down to 4% in 2023. According to the forecast of the Fitch rating agency for 2023, Armenia's GDP growth will slow down to 6.1%, and the S&P rating agency expects the Armenian economy to grow by an average of 4.3% per year over the next few years. The draft state budget of Armenia for 2023 provides for an economic growth of 7%.
According to official statistics, Armenia's GDP growth in 2022 accelerated to 12.6% (from 5.7% in 2021), recording the higest double-digit level over the past 12 years, and a historical maximum in absolute GDP value - 8.5 trillion drams ($19.5 billion) . In particular, the service sector accelerated y-o-y growth from 7.8% to 28.2%, the trade sector - from 7.5% to 17%, the construction sector - from 7.4% to 12.5%, the industrial sector - from 3. 3% to 7.9%. A reversal of dynamics towards improvement was observed in the agricultural sector and the energy complex, and the agricultural sector increased by 0.4% from a 1.1% decrease, while the energy complex increased by 16.1% from a 0.6% decrease.. Such high GDP growth was accompanied by a sharp acceleration in the growth of exports and imports from 19.1-16.9% in 2021 to 77.7-63.5% in 2022.