By Albert Khachatryan

This February, the Armenian construction sector registered a 4.1% decrease as compared with last February, the RA Statistical Service reports.

Specifically, budgetary financing of construction decreased by 28.4%, and international construction loans by 79.4%. The Armenian population`s construction expenses showed a 9.5% decrease.

This February, 13.8 billion AMD worth construction was carried out, with the share of budgetary financing being 13.8%, international construction loans 6%, humanitarian aid 16.8% and population 12.4%. Organizations` share reached 51% - a 27.6% increase.

As regards types of economic activity, the share of real estate construction reached 27%, followed by agriculture, forestry and fishery (17.6%), electric energy and gas supply (12.9%), processing industry (10.1%), and information and communications (9.9%).

The data on one month, especially if this month is not part of the construction season, can hardly reflect the real situation in the industry. However, the recent tendencies show a sharp decrease in the population-funded construction, which, in turn, affected the gross domestic product (GDP). The loss of a considerable part of crop last year proved another factor that affected the GDP.

This February the AMD/USD exchange rate was U.S. $1/365.06 AMD.