Vahan Kerobyan: By end of 2023, poverty level to decrease significantly in Armenia

ArmInfo. By the end of  2023, the poverty level will decrease significantly in Armenia.  Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan expressed a similar opinion in an  interview with the Public Television of Armenia.

He recalled that last year it was repeatedly said that due to the  high level of economic growth, which was accompanied by high  inflation, an inevitable increase in poverty reached from 26.5% to  39.6% in Armenia.  However, as Kerobyan noted, the targeted policy of  the authorities and interventions, not only managed to stop the  growth of poverty, but also contributed to reducing its level to  24.8%.

"But this year we have high growth and low inflation, which means  that by the end of 2023 we will register a significant reduction in  poverty," he emphasized.

In this regard, the minister recalled that growth in Armenia will be  about 8.3-8.5% this year economic. At the same time, he pointed to  the growth of GDP in absolute terms over the last 3 years (in dollar  equivalent) from 12.5 billion to 25 billion, GDP per capita from 4.2  to 8.3 thousand. "With this indicator, we rose from the 114th place  to the 86th place, surpassing Belarus, Peru, Colombia, Azerbaijan,  Georgia, etc., he noted.  The IMF has improved its forecast for  Armenia's GDP growth for 2023 from the previous 5.5% to an updated  7%, with a slowdown in 2024 to 5% and in 2025 to 4.5%. At the same  time, the IMF forecasts per capita GDP growth in Armenia to $8,029 in  2023 (from actual $6,569 in 2022), with a further y-o-y increase to  $8,352 in 2024 and $8,967 in 2025.

The Central Bank of Armenia also improved the forecast GDP growth for  2023 - from the previous 7.2% to an updated 8.3%.

The World Bank (WB) expects 4.4% economic growth in Armenia in 2023,  with the pace accelerating to 4.8% in 2024. The EBRD forecasts  Armenia's GDP growth by 6.5% for 2023, with a slowdown in 2024 to  4.5%.

The draft RA budget for 2024 envisages 7% economic growth (similar to  the rate envisaged in the RA budget for 2023), and the increase in  added value is expected to be achieved in industry - by 4.7%, in  agriculture - by 3 .5%, in construction - by 8.9%, in the service  sector - by 7.9%, and tax collection will increase by 7.3%.

According to the results of a joint study by the World Bank and the  RA Statistics Committee, the poverty level in Armenia at the end of  2022 based on purchasing power parity (PPP) of $6.85 per person per  day (according to 2017 PPP) was 51.3%.