IMF: “Armenia’s economic growth has slowed down”
"Armenia's economic growth rate has slowed down due to globally unfavorable conditions, and instead of the 4% economic growth, there will be 3.8% growth in 2012," said Head of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) mission in Armenia Mark Horton during a press conference today.
The mission delegates have been holding discussions on the final stage of inspection of the IMF "Extended Crediting" and "Extended Financing" Programs since March 14.
Mark Horton also informed that the IMF would most likely confirm the 56-million dollar loan to Armenia in late May. Half of it will be geared toward the strengthening of the Central Bank's reserve funds, and the other half will be provided to the Ministry of Finance as support to the budget.
IMF Permanent Representative to Armenia Guillermo Tolosa says the RA Government has worked seriously on the improvement of the business environment by facilitating the registration of businesses and introducing amendments to the legislation. However, according to him, there are several issues on the agenda that require urgent solutions.
"Our ultimate goal is to improve the business environment in Armenia, which will contribute to the quantitative and qualitative growth of workplaces in Armenia, and that in its turn will have a positive impact on the social situation," said Tolosa.
In his turn, Mark Horton mentioned that the government has made serious technical reforms that prepare ground for the improvement of the economic state in the future.
"The issue of improving the business environment has to be one of the greatest challenges of the government that will be formed after the elections," said Horton.
The IMF "doesn't like" taxing amnesties.
"The RA Government has never consulted with the IMF on declaring a land and property tax amnesty," mentioned Head of the IMF representation in Yerevan Guillermo Tolosa. According to him, the IMF doesn't welcome such steps.
Generally, based on the IMF's data, despite the unfavorable environment, the macroeconomic conditions in Armenia have improved in the past couple of months. In 2011, the economy grew by 4.4% thanks to the growth of industry and services.
The export growth that the government declared was due to the growth of industry and agriculture. However, according to the IMF Report, the mining industry is still the most impressive in this field and the profits from export are linked to the growth of metal prices in the global market.
