ARMENIAN PM SAYS ECONOMIC DECLINE SLOWED IN JUNE

Interfax
July 22 2009
Russia

Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian said the rate of economic
decline in the country slowed in June 2009.

Statistics for the first half of 2009 show that "positive trends are
already being seen – the rate of decline turned out lower than the
government’s forecast, and the anti-crisis measures are producing
positive results," he told journalists on Wednesday.

Specifically, major improvements were seen in the construction sector
in June 2009 compared to May, which softened the economic decline
significantly, he said.

"A slowdown in the rate of decline is also being seen in other
macroeconomic indicators, which inspires hope that the situation in
the economy will be more favorable by the end of 2009 and we won’t
reach the government’s worst-case scenario that envisions a 20%
decline in GDP," he said.

According to the latest statistics, Armenian GDP declined 16.3%
tentatively to $3.2 billion in the first half of 2009 compared to
the same period of 2008.