YEREVAN, MAY 15, ARMENPRESS.  It is a great honor for Armenia to host representatives of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in Yerevan, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said during the opening ceremony of the meeting of the Board of Governors of the EBRD in Yerevan.

The Prime Minister underscored the importance of the partnership with the EBRD and mentioned that the economy of the Republic of Armenia has experienced significant growth in recent years.

“Since the people's non-violent Velvet Revolution of 2018, Armenia's economy has grown by almost 30 percent, state budget revenues by more than 91 percent, and about 200,000 jobs have been created, which is a 30 percent increase in the total number of jobs. The average monthly salary compared to  2017 has increased by about 87 percent, and the GDP per capita has almost doubled.
 
"Given the fact that during this time we have also survived a coronavirus epidemic, a 44-day war, a humanitarian crisis, the deportation of more than 100,000 Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh, the occupation of more than 200 square kilometers of the sovereign territories of the Republic of Armenia, and internal political and regional escalations, we have been able to face all these challenges thanks to the aforementioned economic indicators," said Pashinyan.

 “Entrepreneurs have gained the opportunity to carry out economic activities freely, without restrictions,’’ said Pashinyan, noting that the import and export of many products were not possible without the permission of the political authorities.

"Since 2018, these phenomena have been eradicated from Armenia, and now in our country, all those people who have the necessary skills, abilities, and desire can make a profit. It is thanks to these people that the economy has developed, state budget revenues have increased, and they are the locomotive of our country's development," Pashinyan emphasized.