Armenia foolishly ups defense spending
By Rashid Shirinov
Armenia has revealed its plans to increase the military spending, proving that Yerevan is committed to continue its aggressive policy.
Finance Minister Vardan Aramyan presented the draft state budget for 2018 at the government meeting on September 28. The document shows that Armenia’s defense spending will be about $516 million in 2018, compared to $439 million in 2017. Thus, the funds Armenia is going to allocate for the military sector will grow by 17.6 percent.
Although the economic situation in the country is deteriorating, Yerevan increases the military spending turning blind eye to the social-economic problems. Thus, the Armenian government once again sacrifices the expenses for education, health, agriculture and other fields for the defense spending.
Armenian experts and economists have long ago warned that it is necessary to ensure at least 7-8 percent of GDP growth to avert the impending default. This could help the country survive, to provide the demand on the labor market in order to solve the unemployment and migration problems of the country. However, the realities show that the country’s government couldn’t even reach the promised 2 percent of growth last year, as it stood at only 0.2 percent in 2016.
But, the Armenian government decides not to fix the main problems of the country’s economy and society, but to allocate additional money to the military sphere.
Obviously, the Armenia leadership will continue its aggressive policy against Azerbaijan and keep the occupant troops in the Nagorno-Karabakh and seven other regions of Azerbaijan.
The Armenian government, instead of moving towards peace with Azerbaijan and ending the long-standing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, continues to save on Armenian population’s well-being. The money that could have gone for opening new jobs, improving the life of Armenians living in poor conditions, and for many other worthy purposes, are foolishly allocated for the military sector.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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