CBA Deputy Chairman: Economic growth exceeded expectations, driven by strong performance in construction, services, and tourism

ArmInfo. In Armenia, the  growth rate of economic activity over the past 2 months has exceeded  expectations. This growth can be attributed to the construction  sector, services and tourism.  Armen Nurbekyan, Deputy Chairman of  the Central Bank of Armenia, made this statement during a press  conference on August 5, while responding to a question  about whether  the growth in external demand was solely due to tourism or if there  were other contributing factors.

He mentioned that in the period from 2022-23, the country's economic  growth was mainly supported by external demand. However, despite a  further sharp decline, the economy avoided such a drastic outcome.   According to Nurbekyan, this was made possible due to domestic  demand, which was able to compensate for external "losses". "Now, we  are seeing an increase in external demand again," the Deputy Chairman  of the Central Bank noted. Regarding tourism, Nurbekyan pointed out  that there was  a significant decrease in tourist arrivals at the  beginning of the year, but a sharp increase was already recorded in  May and June. 

He noted that this is due to both a partial recovery in tourist flow  from Russia and the diversification of certain destinations. "I don't  believe that this can be solely attributed to the Iran-Israel  conflict, as a certain number of people from Iran arrived in Armenia  for a short period. However, in the macro context, this is not a  decisive factor," he concluded. Meanwhile, according to the RA  Statistical Committee, 907,135 tourists visited Armenia in  January-June, which is 4.1% lower than the  previous year's figure.