10.3% economic growth recorded in NKR in 2007

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Dec 20 2007

STEPANAKERT, December 20. /ARKA/. By preliminary estimate, 71bln
AMD GDP is expected in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) this year
against the planned 69.5bln AMD – a 10.3% increase compared with 2006.

Speaking in Parliament, NKR Minister of Finance Spartak Tevosyan said
that internal revenues, including social allocations, will exceed
14.930bln AMD – a 22.1% increase in comparable prices compared
with 2006.

"These indices are possible due to dynamic economic growth, which is
evidence of considerable progress in the country, formation of stable
economic environment. The aforementioned forecast development is the
basis for planning socio-economic indicators for 2008," Tevosyan said.

He also reported that a 14.8% GDP growth and 4.6% deflator are forecast
in the country. Thus, the 2003 GDP level will be exceeded 2.5 times.

As a result, the revenues of the country’s 2008 consolidated budget
are to total 50,329.5mln, expenditures 53,761.4mln AMD and deficit
3,431.6mln AMD, Tevosyan said.

NKR Prime Minister Ara Harutyunyan pointed out that the NKR state
budget for 2008 is socially-oriented. According to him, the budget
is supposed to promote the country’s economic development, as all
the necessary preconditions are available in the country.

The NKR Parliament is to discuss and adopt the 2008 draft budget on
December 26.