Yerevan /Mediamax/. GDP decline will make 15.5% in Armenia following the results of 2009 according to the forecast of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Mediamax reports that the Head of IMF Representative Office in Armenia Ninke Omes said this at a news conference in Yerevan today.

According to her, in January-September, 2009, GDP decline made 18.3%. “This is a very negative index, however, if we consider September, as compared to August, GDP index increased by 1.7%”, Ninke Omes stated. According to her, this evidences gradual rehabilitation of the Armenian economy.

Speaking about long-term forecasts, Ninke Omes informed that, according to IMF assessments, in 2010, growth of Armenian GDP will make 1.2%, and in 2011 – 3%. The following years, GDP will increase by 0.5% each year until 2014.

Ninke Omes also touched upon the policy of the Central Bank of Armenia, noting that IMF recommends CB carrying out the policy of “manageable floating exchange rate”. “CB should not interfere with objective trends of the exchange rate, however, from time to time it can pour currency into the market to avoid strong shocks”, she stated.