Armenian economic recovery to begin next year, GDP to grow by 1-1.5%

[Emil Lazarian]

Armenian economic recovery to begin next year, GDP to grow by 1-1.5%;
minister's forecast

YEREVAN, August 28, /ARKA/. Armenia's finance minister Tigran Davtian
sounded upbeat today saying the economic recovery will start next year.
In response to a question from ARKA news agency the minister, who was
speaking at a news conference at Novosti international press center,
predicted a 1-1.5% economic growth for the next year.

According to Tigran Davtian, stabilization trends could be seen in the
economy, although, `they are not steady yet and we need to bolster
them.'

The minister emphasized positive signals coming from leading economies,
particularly, from Germany, USA and even Russia, that they were going
out of the recession. According to the minister, this success is
creating a positive backdrop for the Armenian economy, which being open
and interrelated with world economies, depends on global economic
developments.

According to the latest official figures, the country's economy
continued to decline in July showing a 18.5 percent Gross Domestic
Product contraction in the seven months of 2009. The country's GDP
shrank by 16.3 percent in the first half of this year. M.M. -0-

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress