Tuesday, July 30 2024 16:10

ArmInfo. The downward trend of sticky prices observed in Armenia, which have been high for a long time, is due to weakening of external demand. This was stated by Martyn Galstyan, Chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia, during a press conference on July 30.  He explained that the decline in external demand is due to two factors. The first factor, according to the head of the Central Bank, is the decrease in tourist flow to Armenia and the decrease in expenses per tourist. The second factor, he said, is the outflow of foreign labor. "This concerns not only highly qualified personnel, but also low-skilled ones," Galstyan noted. Citing the latest data as an example (as of the end of May this year), the Chairman of the Central Bank added: "25% of labor migrants from India, who came to Armenia since the beginning of last year, have already left our country." In particular, he noted that at the peak  there were 17 thousand Indian citizens, decreasing to 11 thousand people by the end of May of the current year.  In connection with this situation, according to the Central Bank's forecasts,  the growth rate of the service sector is expected to slow in Armenia.  It should be noted that according to the Tourism Committee, 964 thousand tourists visited Armenia in January-June 2024, which is 4% lower than the figure for the previous year. Traditionally, the lion's share of tourists preferring to vacation in Armenia are citizens of the Russian Federation (41%), followed by tourists from Georgia (13%), Iran (7%), India (3%), the USA (2%), as well as from Ukraine, the Philippines, Germany, France, China (1% each). According to the Statistical Committee of the Republic of Armenia, the annual growth in the services sector in January-June 2024 slowed sharply to 4.4% (from 16.8% in the same period of 2023), with a volume of 1.6 trillion AMD ($3.9 billion). At the same time, due to a sharp growth in the industrial sector, maintaining double-digit growth rates in the trade sector and construction, the energy sector emerging from recession into growth, and accelerating growth in the agricultural sector, economic activity remained in double-digit growth.