Armenian president unhappy about current state of economy

YEREVAN, May 29. /ARKA/. Armenian President Serge Sargsian is
unsatisfied with the current state of the country’s economy. Despite
the achievements – two-digit economic growth, improvement of legal
framework and investment climate – substantial changes remain to be
performed, the President said. He also stressed the necessity to
increase the share of industry and agriculture.

There is no alternative but to turn Armenian economy to a producing and
exporting economy, the President said. He pointed to the problem of
extra levying by the tax authorities and stressed the necessity to
develop certain measures to tackle the problem. `It is extremely
important that overpayments are justified,’ he said.

A 13.7% economic growth was recorded in Armenia in 2007 and a 10%
economic growth is planned for the year 2008.

An 8.8% economic growth was recorded in Armenia in January-March this
year against the same period of 2007. Added value constituted 83.2% in
the Gross Domestic Product in the period (86% in January-March 2007).

The share of industry was 21.9% against 24% in January-March 2007, the
share of agriculture remained zero and the share of construction grew
by 1.7pct to 9.4% in the period. Trade, public catering, transport and
communication constituted 23.4% and services were 45.4%. Taxes the
subsidies exclusive constituted 31.2% of the GDP. -0–