Agence France Presse
April 22, 2010 Thursday 11:56 AM GMT

Armenia recovers from recession: PM

YEREVAN, April 22 2010

Armenia’s economy returned to positive growth in the first quarter of
2010 after a severe blow caused by the global economic downturn, the
country’s prime minister said on Thursday.

"With 5.5-percent growth in the first three months of this year, our
economy entered the stage of recovery," Prime Minister Tigran
Sarkisian said at a cabinet meeting.

He said industrial output and the electric energy production sector
had both grown by 10 percent in the January-March period, while
agricultural production had grown by 3.2 percent.

Isolated Armenia has been among the countries hardest hit by the
global economic downturn, with its economy contracting by 14.4 percent
in 2009, according to the state statistics committee.

The government and the International Monetary Fund have forecast a
modest return to growth this year, with GDP expected to expand by 1.8
percent.

Fuelled by booming construction, especially in the capital Yerevan,
and foreign trade, Armenia’s economy grew by an average of around 13
percent between 2004 and 2007.