Armenians continue to suffer from economic failures
By Rashid Shirinov
Observers and opposition have criticized the Armenian government for ineffective actions and unwise policy that has lead the country into a deeper economic crisis.
Last week, inaccurate execution of the 2015-state-budget and shortcomings in the 2016-state-budget have become a serious topic of debates in Armenia, while some urged the authorities to amend the budget of 2016.
Mher Shahgeldyan, Secretary of the Orinats Yerkir Faction, announced that the 2015-budget failed to prevent the growing unemployment in the country.
The unemployment rate is18 percent and due to the wrong structure of national economy, new vacancies do not seem to come up soon, he said.
The opposition forces are also skeptical about the anti- corruption fight launched by Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan.
Shahgeldyan said that corrupt officials cannot combat corruption, adding that the reduction in the number of cars and personnel cannot give obvious results, because more radical measures are needed.
Mikayel Melkumyan, member of the Prosperous Armenia Party Faction, also voiced that he does not believe the anti-corruption fight will give tangible results, stressing the need for radical measures.
Meanwhile, MP Tevan Poghosyan noted that, for many years, the Armenian government allocated money for about 500,000 books, and now it turns out that the books do not exist at all.
“Nobody knows where these books are, but significant funds were annually allocated to publish them. At the same time, the government reduces the number of cars of officials and work places that have never existed,” he complained.
Secretary of the opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC) Faction Aram Manukyan, for his part, spoke about the miserable economic situation in the country.
The Armenian budget deficit of 2015 has increased by 3 percent (from 1.9 percent to 4.8 percent), and the external trade turnover conversely decreased by 20 percent.
In 2014, GDP amounted to $11.6 billion, and in 2015 it reduced to $10.1 billion. The revenues of the state budget for 2014 were $2.7 billion, and in 2015 they also dropped down - $2.44 billion, said Manukyan, noting that these are the result of the unwise economic policy.
He also spoke about the national debt, which will soon grow to the level of $5.3 billion. “The ratio of external debt to the Armenian GDP is 51%. It means that the debt per capita will be $1, 750,” Manukyan said, warning that this is the above all limits.
Despite the government’s reiteration that the debt is controllable, last year's data showed a gradual rise in external debt and it exceeds the red line. Overall, it does not seem that Armenians will enjoy the wealth until their government amends its policy or leaves the office at all.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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