The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reduced by 2 percentage points the GDP growth forecasts for the Caucasus and Central Asian countries, bringing them down to 3.2 percent.

The cause is the economic crisis in Russia, which is the largest partner of these countries, and the declining oil prices, RIA Novosti news agency of Russia reported citing the May 2015 update of the IMF Regional Economic Outlook.

“A continued depreciation of the [Russian] ruble would further depress the value of remittances from Russia [to] (Armenia, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan),” the analysts note.

Meanwhile, Armenia, Georgia, Tajikistan, and the Kyrgyz Republic have allowed their national currencies’ depreciation against the US dollar. 

The lowest GDP growth rate is in Armenia. It fell by one percent in the country this year, and there is no positive outlook for 2016.

Moreover, the country’s inflation stood at 4 percent in 2015, whereas 6.4 percent is forecast for the coming year.