ArmInfo. Armenia's gross international reserves in January- October 2020 decreased by 18.7% - to $ 2.316 billion. In y-o-y terms (October 2020 versus October  2019), this indicator decreased by 6.2%, and in October alone - by  5.2%. This is evidenced by the data of the Central Bank of Armenia.

ArmInfo.An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team led by Nathan Porter conducted discussions on the third review of Armenia's reform program supported by the IMF  Stand-By Arrangement (SBA). According to the IMF's press release,  discussions were held during September 2-November 16, 2020. At the  conclusion of the discussions, Mr. Porter issued the following  statement:

ArmInfo.The International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts a decline in GDP of more than 7% in Armenia in 2020, with a modest growth in 2021. This is stated in the  press release of the IMF, in which, in addition to information on the  third revision of the Stand-by loan for Armenia, the head of the IMF  delegation in Armenia Nathan Porter also provides updated forecast  indicators.

ArmInfo. In 2021, the projected growth of the Armenian economy will be 4.8%. On November 17, presenting the draft state budget for 2021 in parliament, RA  Minister of Finance Atom Janjughazyan stated this.  According to him,  the growth of the economy will be provided due to the growth of  capital expenditures.  219 billion drams will be allocated for these  purposes.

ArmInfo.In the face of uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing military action, it is necessary to ensure a smooth consolidation of fiscal  funds in order to ensure budgetary performance and public debt  indicators. The Minister of Finance of the Republic of Armenia Atom  Janjughazyan stated on November 3 at a joint meeting of parliamentary  committees on Economic Affairs and Finance, credit and budgetary  issues, presenting the draft state budget of the country for 2021.

ArmInfo. In view of the expected economic recovery in 2021, the ratio of taxes to GDP will increase by 0.5 p.p., amounting to 1.501 trillion AMD.

ArmInfo. The Ministry of  Finance of Armenia believes that economic recovery in the republic  can be expected as early as next year. RA Minister of Finance Atom  Janjughazyan stated this on November 2, presenting the draft budget  of the RA for 2021.  In this vein, he noted that the International  Monetary Fund (IMF) is of the same opinion. As the minister noted,  the IMF expects a late recovery of economic growth in Armenia in  2021, the rates of which will be rather low. "Consequently, the GDP  growth for 2021, according to IMF experts, will be lower than the  projected indicators," Janjughazyan said.

ArmInfo. The ban on the import of Turkish goods to Armenia for Turkey, even if it is a "drop in the bucket", will still have an impact. Economist, former mayor of  Yerevan Vahagn Khachatryan said this at a press conference on October  28. The expert conditioned his opinion on the existing difficulties  of the Turkish economy.

ArmInfo.Fitch Ratings has downgraded the Armenian City of Yerevan's Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to 'B+' from 'BB-'.

ArmInfo.Armenia's gross international reserves (GIR) increased in September 2020 compared to September 2019 by 1.5% or by $ 35.7 million (against 12% growth in  the previous year), amounting to $ 2.443 billion.

ArmInfo.Fitch forecasts that the Armenian economy will contract by 6.2% this year, with 3.2% growth in 2021. This is noted in the report published  yesterday by  Fitch, which indicated that the agency now expects a weaker recovery  in external demand, including in the tourism sector, along with a  moderate slowdown from the curtailment of fiscal measures.

ArmInfo. Official sources of world leaders - the main partner countries of Armenia predict a decline in their GDP in 2020: in the USA - by 5.3%, in the Eurozone -  by 7.9%, in the Russian Federation - by 4.5%. These fresh economic  forecasts of the partner countries are cited by the Central Bank of  the Republic of Armenia in the Monetary Policy Program (MP) for the  third quarter, published on September 30, in which the forecast for  Armenia's GDP for 2020 was adjusted towards a larger decline - by  6.2% (against the previous 4% and an actual 7.6% growth in 2019), the  unemployment rate is expected to grow to 20.2% (from an actual 18.9%  in 2019), and inflation at the end of 2020 will be 2.5% (against the  target 4% +/- 1.5).

ArmInfo.The recession in the Armenian economy will continue. On September 18 from the rostrum of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia the MP from the  opposition "Prosperous Armenia" faction Mikael Melkumyan stated this.

ArmInfo.The Central Bank has downgraded its forecast for the decline in Armenia's GDP in 2020 - to 6.2% from the previous 4%. Chairman of the Central Bank of the RA Martin Galstyan stated this on September 15 during a press  conference.

ArmInfo. The inflow of transfers from Russia to Armenia in January-July 2020 sharply accelerated the y-o-y decline to 28.2% from 2.9% in the same period  of 2019. At the same time, the outflow of transfers from Armenia to  Russia increased by 0.9% from 1.6% decline a year earlier.

ArmInfo. Armenia's foreign debt to Russia decreased in the first half of 2020 by 5.3% - to $ 378 million, but the debt increased by 20% on an annualized basis.  In the first half of the year, the external debt to Germany (KfW) was  also reduced by 2% to $ 373 million, to Japan (JICA) - by 0.5% to $  224.3 million, to the United States - by 7% to $ 15.5 million, and  the debt to France, on the contrary, it grew by 8.5% - up to $ 137.9  million. This is evidenced by the data of the RA Statistical Committee.

ArmInfo.Armenia's gross international reserves decreased in January-July 2020 by 8.1% or by $ 231.4 million (against a decline of 2.5% a year earlier), amounting  to $ 2.618 billion, according to the data of the Central Bank of  Armenia.

ArmInfo. The national debt of Armenia, having increased by 8.4% in January-July 2020 (against growth by 0.9% a year earlier), exceeded the level of $ 7.9 billion (3.9 trillion AMD).

ArmInfo.Despite the imbalances and risks that create some additional difficulties, Armenia's banking system in the presence of a significant capital  adequacy buffer and excessive liquidity, will continue to function  stably in the medium term under any scenarios of the development of  the coronavirus crisis.

ArmInfo.  Each month of  quarantine measures costs the countries of the Eurasian Economic  Union (EAEU) with a drop in GDP of 1.5 to 3%. This is stated in the  materials of the Eurasian Development Bank, finance.kz portal  reports.  According to the bank, GDP losses of the unification  countries from external factors in 2020 may be about 2%.