YEREVAN, December 11. / ARKA /. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Resident Representative to Armenia, Guillermo Tolosa, said today that IMF expects the Armenian economy to show this year a 6.2% expansion.

Speaking at a news conference, he said the projection for 2013 is 4-4.5% According to him, these forecasts were made by IMF experts following a visit to Armenia this past September.
He said IMF projections do not differ much from those made by Armenian government and are consonant with economic indicators, recorded in recent times. He said the year-end indicators may even exceed the forecasts.

According to Mr. Tolosa,  high economic growth rates are due to good indicators shown by agriculture, mining and financial sectors.

"It is also noteworthy that for the first time in recent years the construction sector posted growth. The pace is not very impressive, but the growth is a positive development ", he stressed.

As for projects for 2013, Tolosa said the 4-4.5% forecast is based on a set of  factors  stimulating economic growth this year, for example, favorable  weather conditions for agriculture.

Mr. Tolosa said  the 2013 GDP forecast could be lowered because of unfavorable external environment and negative forecasts for the world economy. He added, however, that IMF may change its forecasts upwards, if the government, for example, succeeds in combating the corruption.
"We are convinced that Armenia can achieve much greater progress in this direction, and we see clearly that the authorities are aware of the need to implement these measures,» he said.

Armenian economy minister Tigran Davtyan said earlier the government is able to ensure a 7 percent economic growth in 2012. The 7 percent growth target was set by president Serzh Sargsyan on June 18  as he chaired the first meeting of his new Cabinet.  -0-