YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, NOYAN TAPAN. The anticipated economic recession in the U.S. will have some impact on the Armenian economy as well, the director of the Armenian-European Policy and Legal Advice Centre (AEPLAC) Tigran Jrbashian stated at the January 24 press conference. In his words, the possible consequences of this impact should be clearly evaluated now in order to take steps aimed at their mitigation. He said that the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) has been conducting dicussions and studies on this issue for four months. According to T. Jrbashian, if the recession becomes reality and continues long in the U.S, economic growth will slow down worldwide. "We will have problems with prices of metals and raw materials, which represents the second largest source of our economic growth," he said. The possible recession in the U.S. may also affect the amounts of remittances to Armenia. "They will decrease and result in a change of our economic conditions," he remarked. In the economist's opinion, it is still early to speak about global recession. However, in his words, "its phantom is moving, making a serious influence on all markets". It has already begun to affect the oil market: oil prices have fallen by about 4% in the last two years.

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