Minister of Economy: Relocation impact on Armenia`s economic growth  is estimated at one third

ArmInfo. The relocation impacti on  the economic growth of Armenia is estimated at one third. RA  Minister of Economy Vahan Keroyan stated this in an interview to the Public Television of Armenia.

Last year, according to him, 37,000 companies were opened in Armenia,  of which 12,000 were LLCs and CJSCs, and 25,000 were individual  entrepreneurs. < All of them are involved in creating high economic  growth. But we have to accept that all this is happening due to  government reforms, as well as large-scale stimulus programs being  implemented and the transformation of the global economy due to the  geopolitical situation>, the head of the department said.

In this regard, he drew attention to the fact that even before the  start of the war in Ukraine, in particular, in the first 2 months of  2022, Armenia managed to ensure a 12% economic growth. Kerobyan  stressed that the environment created over the years in the country  allowed foreign citizens to stay in Armenia, rather than move to  another country. In particular, in this context, the minister noted  that the retention rate in Armenia is relatively higher than in other  countries where foreign citizens also relocated. In total, he  stressed that 110 thousand people moved to Armenia, of which 57% have  Armenian surnames. "That is, these are people who returned to  Armenia, rather than immigrated," he said.

It should be reminded that during a press conference on May 2, Head  of the Central Bank of Armenia Martin Galstyan, referring to the  results of a survey conducted by German Economic, noted that the vast  majority of immigrants have long-term plans with Armenia. And at  least half of the citizens who moved to Armenia plan to live here for  more than a year.

According to preliminary data from the RA Statistical Committee, in  Armenia, the growth of economic activity in Q1 2023 accelerated to  12.2% per annum (from 9.6% Q1 2022), far exceeding even the pre-  Covid 6.5% growth in Q1 2019. The service sector, the trade sector  and the construction sector continue to be the drivers of economic  growth. It should be noted that the Central Bank of Armenia forecasts  a slowdown in GDP growth to 5.8% for 2023, expecting a slowdown in  export and import growth to 14.3- 14.6%. According to the forecast of  the International Monetary Fund, the GDP growth of Armenia will slow  down in 2023 to 5.5%, and according to the forecast of the World Bank  - to 4.1%. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development  expects Armenia's GDP growth to slow down to 4% in 2023. The Asian  Development Bank forecasts a slowdown in Armenia's GDP growth to 6.5%  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. According to actual statistics,  Armenia's GDP growth in 2022 accelerated to 12.6% from 5.7% in 2021  (against a 7.2% decline in 2020).