On December 11, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund approved the second revision of the current Reserve Program. This approval made credit funds available to Armenia, amounting to about 24.4 million US dollars (equivalent to 18.4 million special drawing rights), thus increasing the total volume to approximately 73.3 million US dollars (55.2 million special drawing rights).
According to the estimates of IMF experts, Armenia is expected to maintain high rates of economic growth throughout 2023. Strong levels of consumption and investment are anticipated to result in economic growth reaching 7% in 2023. However, the forecast indicates a slowdown, with GDP growth projected to be 5% in 2024. Additionally, inflation is expected to stabilize and return to the central bank's 4% target by mid-2024.
The 2024 budget has been designed to adequately address the needs of refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh while maintaining macroeconomic stability. Over the medium term, there is a planned reduction of the budget deficit, ensuring a sustainable and stable level of public debt to GDP. Ongoing structural reforms, including anticipated tax reforms, are expected to generate the necessary revenues to support key areas such as health, education, social protection, and capital programs.
It should be noted that the Reserve Program has a preventive nature and aims to ensure the continuity of the implementation of structural reforms, to support the maintenance of macroeconomic, financial and fiscal stability.
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