Armenian PM says country’s ‘economic revolution’ is on track

Armenia’s prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, has said that an “economic revolution is gaining momentum” and that the country would achieve a mininum of 4.5 per cent GDP growth in 2019, RFE/RL’s Armenian service has reported.

Speaking at a parliamentary debate on Armenia’s budget for next year, Mr Pashinyan said that the growth projection was “conservative”, designed to maintain macroeconomic stability, adding that the actual growth of the Armenian economy may well be above 4.5 per cent.

“Huge investments are being made in the Republic of Armenia,” said Mr Pashinyan.

Responding to the government’s plans, opposition members of parliament called the forecast “a pessimistic scenario” and “non-revolutionary GDP growth.”

In a government working programme adopted in February, the Armenian PM pledged to maintain the country’s real GDP growth level above five per cent over the next five years.

Armenia’s 7.5 per cent GDP growth in 2017 was followed by a slowdown to 5.2 per cent last year.

According to the IMF’s revised World Economic Outlook, Armenia has the highest growth projection in emerging Europe: the organisation expects that the Armenian economy will expand by six per cent this year. However, the growth rate is projected to slow to 4.8 per cent in 2020 and 4.4 per cent by 2024.