Armenia this week
International monetary fund impressed with Armenia’s economic progress
A senior official of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last week termed “impressive” the Armenian government’s economic reform successes. “Very few countries have achieved such an important progress in such a short period of time,” IMF’s Deputy Managing Director Augustin Carstens said while on a visit to Yerevan. Carstens noted that Armenia is on a “promising path [of] sustained growth and alleviation of poverty.”
According to National Statistics Service data released last week, Armenia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased by over 10 percent in the first half of 2005. This increase follows four straight years of double-digit economic growth that also saw poverty and inequality decline substantially. So far this year, strong gains were made in construction, services, exports, mining and metallurgy and agriculture, even as output in diamond processing, which remains Armenia’s largest export-generating industry, declined by one percent.
Carstens also praised Armenia’s Central Bank’s policy of holding off inflation in face of increased capital inflows. While the IMF director noted progress made in state revenue collection, he urged greater transparency and reduced discretion to improve the overall business climate. A new five-year Tax Improvement Project, funded by the United States and launched by Booz Allen Hamilton this month, aims to do just that.
As of the first half of the year, Armenia’s revenue agencies were on track to meet the $680 million target for 2005. Earlier this month, Deputy Finance Minister Pavel Safarian estimated government spending to be about $1 billion next year.
Meanwhile, the Lincy Foundation of the U.S.-based billionaire Kirk Kerkorian announced this month that it will contribute $60 million to Armenia’s schools and roads. This funding comes on top of $150 million that Lincy channeled to Armenia’s infrastructure projects between 2001 and 2004.
The Armenian Assembly of America
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