YEREVAN, November 16. / ARKA /. Armenia’s economic activity in January-September 2012 advanced 7.6 percent when compared with the same period last year, the Central Bank of Armenia said following its Board meeting.

"The high growth in economic activity in the first nine months of the year was driven largely by increase in industrial and agricultural output  by 11.6% and 10.5% respectively,’  according to the Board meeting minutes.

It said growth in the construction and service sectors was within expectations - 2.9% and 6.8% respectively. Exports in January-September were said to have increased by 6% year-on-year while imports saw a slight rise of 1.2%. The net inflow of non-commercial individual remittances saw a 9 percent growth in the reporting period, according to the Central Bank.

"Evaluation of the third quarter indicators  show  that  consumption growth rate will remain at 8.2%, while  private investment growth rate will slow down to  1.9%," the Central Bank said.

The Central Bank said also inflation in 2012 October was 1.2%, resulting in a 12-month inflation rate of  3.4%. In October, the inflation was pushed up by rise in prices of food products from 2.6 to 9 percent. The government GDP projection for 2012 is  4.2 percent, the projected inflation is 4 ± 1.5%. -0-