EBRD improves Armenia's 2024 GDP growth forecast to 6.2%

YEREVAN. May 15 (Interfax) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) forecasts Armenia's GDP growth in 2024 at 6.2%, the May edition of Regional Economic Prospects, published by the bank on Wednesday, says.

The EBRD expects Armenia's GDP to increase by 4.8% in 2025.

In a previous review, the bank forecast the country's GDP growth in 2024 at 4.5%. At the beginning of May this year, EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso told reporters that the bank expects economic growth in Armenia in 2024 and 2025 to reach 5%.

Armenia's GDP increased 8.7% in 2023, driven by buoyant export demand and double-digit growth in construction, hospitality, and information and communications services, the May review says.

The review says that net capital inflows in 2023 dropped almost 40% versus 2022, but were significantly higher than in 2021. A growing deficit in goods trade was offset by a surplus in services exports, and the current account deficit returned to 2.1% of GDP.

Risks to the economic outlook mainly arise from geopolitical uncertainty, the review said.

The current Armenian budget provides for a 7% increase in GDP in 2024, while the Central Bank expects growth in the range of 5.3-6.4%.

According to statistics, Armenia's economy grew 9.4% in 2023.