Azernews.Az

By Gunay Hasanova

Armenian citizens urge parliamentarians to give a negative assessment to the draft “1,000 dram” law.

Representatives of so-called “Against the looting of 1,000 drams” group in social network Facebook protest near the Armenian Parliament, Tert.am reported.

Representatives of the initiative call the deputies to give a negative assessment to the bill, that was put to the vote in an expedited manner.

The essence of the law is that all the people who have suffered while serving in the Armed Forces of Armenia, fulfilling the will of the aggressive authorities and occupying lands from its real owner - Azerbaijan, will receive a small compensation for the crippled health and life.

To solve the social problems of the families of killed or disabled soldiers, every working citizen will be charged in the amount of 1,000 AMD each month for 20 years, the bill suggests.

These finances, according to the draft law, will be "allocated" to a special fund.

The initiators of the protest claim that the problem is not about 1,000 AMD, it is about who will manage this money.

In addition, there are citizens who are struggling to make money, therefore, 1000 drams is a big amount for them.

The representatives of the initiative propose to charge MoD generals, bureaucrats, and oligarchs by higher amounts.

Representatives of the initiative are outraged by the fact that all will have to pay the same amount, but the amount should be different for different segments of society.

The economy of the country remains critical, demonstrating unbelievably low indices each year. Descending economy, high poverty and increasing outflow of people are the pure realities in Armenia, which lack any governmental scenario or program to change the situation.

Armenia is one of the few countries where imports exceed exports by 3 times. Last year, the government again failed to keep its promise to substantially increase exports and to develop import substitution. The solution of this problem could strengthen both the national currency and reduce the growing unemployment. However, nothing is done to improve the situation, and Armenia is on the way to the abyss.

Meanwhile, Armenia’s external debt is growing, as well as the budget deficit. Moreover, the economic growth is significantly lower than it was foreseen. The state debt of Armenia has already amounted to $5.36 billion as of the end of the first half of 2016. The forecasted GDP in 2016 amounts to 5.443 trillion drams. Consequently, by the end of the first half-year, the national debt of Armenia made up 46.7 percent of GDP, which is quite risky for the country’s economy.

The World Bank released in April that 76 percent of the Armenian population spend less than $5 per day and 26 percent – even less than $2.5.

Armenian experts themselves do not hold optimistic views regarding the crisis situation in the country.

In 2017, we are expected to consume less than we did in 2003, which is to say we are decreasing our consumption index in the GDP ... to about 91.2 percent. Hence, in 2017 our population’s living standards will be lower compared to 2013,” says Armenian economist Vilen Khachatryan.

Some 8.8 percent of the State Budget will be directed to serving the state debt, according to the economist.

By and large, the conflicts with neighbors, including the occupation of Azerbaijani territories, territorial claims, and nonsense about the so-called “Armenian genocide” do not satisfy anyone in the region, including the Armenian people themselves. That is the wrong policy of the Armenian authorities.

Hence, the dominance of corrupted government, implementing aggressive policy, monopolies and oligarchic structures remain a major obstacle on the way of economic survival.

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Gunay Hasanova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @gunhasanova

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