0.7% annual GDP decrease in Jan 2009

YEREVAN, February 20. /ARKA/. This January Armenia’s GDP reached 99.3%
of last January’s level ` an annual decrease of 0.7%.

Head of the RA Statistical Service Stepan Mnatsakanyan reported that
the GDP exceeded 132bln AMD this January, the GDP deflator being 99.7%.
This January, the GDP was 37.2% of GDP last December, he said.

`We already have a number of indices affected by the global economic
crisis, especially in the industrial sector,’ Mnatsakanyan said.

He also said that the crisis affected the financial sector,
particularly the balance of bank accounts of the population.

`Last year we registered a rise in this index. However, over the last
few months, monthly decrease has been obvious though the credit
investments have shown a general increase,’ Mnatsakanyan said.

In fact, judging by initial and other indicators, the impact of the
crisis on individual sector is obvious.
4,169bln AMD GDP growth has been budgeted in Armenia this year, the
budgeted real GDP growth being 9.2%, deflator 4% and inflation rate 4%
(±1.5%) ($1/305.41 AMD). `0–