The Parliament of Armenia is discussing the draft law on Armenia’s budget for 2024.
“Despite the challenges, fortunately, the economy of Armenia has demonstrated and continues to demonstrate a fairly high resilience, including due to effective macroeconomic policies and adequate actions continuously implemented by the Government and the Central Bank,” said the main rapporteur, Minister of Finance Vahe Hovhannisyan.
According to the Minister, rates of economic activity and growth continue to be high. The double-digit economic growth was maintained in the first half of this year, and according to the results of January-September, we have a 9.7 percent increase in the economic activity index.
“Under these conditions, the economic growth of 2023 is predicted within the framework of the 7 percent targeted by the Government, and if the current trends are maintained, it may be more. In 2024, we also aim to provide 7 percent economic growth and improve the tax/GDP ratio by around 0.75 percentage points, as a result of which tax revenues will amount to AMD 2 trillion 566 billion ($6 billion 415 million)," said Hovhannisyan.
According to the Minister, despite the economic growth, a significant part was provided by the service sector, high growth was also recorded in the construction sector. A decline was recorded only in the industry sector, the Government has made efforts to restore its growth rate and additional measures will be taken in the near future. Hovhannisyan emphasized that there have been qualitative changes in the economy, increasing the economic potential of Armenia, in particular, export opportunities have increased significantly, the developments in the IT sector are also impressive.
"It is important to note that the economic growth was inclusive, in line with the policy announced by the Government of the Republic of Armenia, because the high economic growth was accompanied by an increase in employment on the one hand, and on the other hand by an increase in average wages significantly exceeding the rate of inflation. In January-September 2023, the number of hired workers continued to increase, recording a 5.7 percent increase, and the average monthly nominal salary increased by 16.6 percent compared to the previous year, making AMD 262,789 ($655), and the real salary increased by 2.8 percent in the conditions of inflation - by 13.4 percent," informed the Minister, expressing hope that the positive trends in the growth of the labor market will be maintained next year as well, contributing to the improvement of the welfare of the society.
