Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Friday estimated Armenia’s economic growth to slow down to 2,2 per cent in the current fiscal (2020-21). “In Armenia, COVID-19 will slash growth from the unusually high rate of 7.6% achieved in 2019 to 2.2% in 2020, but the realization of structural reform promises to revive expansion to 4.5% in 2021,” according to the Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2020, the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) annual flagship economic publication.

According to the new report, regional economic growth in developing Asia will decline sharply in 2020 due to the effects of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, before recovering in 2021.

The report forecasts regional growth of 2.2% in 2020, a downward revision of 3.3 percentage points relative to the 5.5% ADB had forecast in September 2019. Growth is expected to rebound to 6.2% in 2021, assuming that the outbreak ends and activity normalizes.

“The evolution of the global pandemic—and thus the outlook for the global and regional economy—is highly uncertain. Growth could turn out lower, and the recovery slower, than we are currently forecasting. For this reason, strong and coordinated efforts are needed to contain the COVID-19 pandemic and minimize its economic impact, especially on the most vulnerable,” said ADB Chief Economist Yasuyuki Sawada.