2024-04-24 00:10:19
Based on the data published by the Statistical Committee of the Republic of Armenia, the “LUYS” Foundation analyzed the socio-economic developments of the RA economy in 2023. in January-September.
Thus, after accelerating somewhat, the growth rate of economic activity slowed down sharply in September, mainly due to the slowdown in the growth rate of services and the deepening of the rate of decline in industry. In September, the economic activity index (TAC) was only 5.6%. The three-fold slowdown in the growth rate of services, in turn, is mainly due to the base effect (it was 4.6%), but in September, the events in Artsakh as a result of Azerbaijan’s aggression also had a negative impact on the services sector.
The negative developments in the industrial sector have deepened and remain worrying. The industrial sector has been in decline for a long time. Moreover, a decline is registered both in the mining industry and in the manufacturing industry. Thus, in September, a 4.3% decline was recorded in the industrial sector, and in the processing industry, according to August data, a 9.4% decline was recorded. This situation speaks of the decline of the potential and competitiveness of the RA economy, which will lead to a permanent slowdown in the rate of economic growth in the future.
The implementation of the state budget deviated from the plan by about 270.8 billion drams. The state budget continues to remain in surplus, and the deviation of its implementation is increasing month by month. RA state budget for 2023 in all months there was a surplus instead of the planned deficit. The surplus of the budget for the months of January-September was 74.6 billion drams against the planned deficit of 196.2 billion drams. In other words, the implementation of the budget deviated from the plan by 270.8 billion drams. The growth of state budget expenses has slowed down significantly. Moreover, the lack of spending is more than half due to the underperformance of capital expenditures, which indicates that the problems related to the performance of capital expenditures have become “chronic”.
The full analysis is available at the following link.