Serzh Sargsyan: From now on the policy based on expectations of foreign support and loans will be a thing of the past

ArmInfo. Within the next few  years Armenia will achieve crucial changes, Armenian President,  Chairman of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) Serzh  Sargsyan said at the 16th congress of the RPA in Yerevan on November  26.  "From now on the policy based on expectations of foreign support  and loans will be a thing of the past," he said. 

The President thinks that unlike other post-Soviet countries, Armenia  has ensured macroeconomic environment, in which the economic shocks  are regulated by the interest rate policy and balance of the budget,  due to which the sharp exchange rate fluctuations do not result in  price growth. This is an environment, in which people can plan their  long-term savings and accumulate pensions. "In many countries, for  instance, due to the financial crisis a significant part of the  population has found itself in the streets or the government reserves  have undergone big reduction. Even the pensions were spent on  stabilizing the situation along with the reserves accumulated from  oil revenues," he said. 

President Sargsyan pointed out the analytics of Reuters, which  stressed Armenia's flexible and strong policy on financial crisis.  The agency noted that in the region Armenia has made a record number  of political decisions regarding the crisis. In this context,  Sargsyan recalled that in 2016 Armenia reduced the refinancing rate  for 9 times. Recently the refinancing rate has been reduced for the  tenth time and now it makes up 6.5% versus 10.5% in 2015. As a  result, Armenia, as a country reacting to crisis situations, has  shown one of the best results in the world, giving a serious impetus  to the monetary policy that expands the economy, he said. 

"Strong Armenia is our national idea, which can also be called a  national dream and goal. I am sure this idea will unite all the  citizens of the Republic of Armenia and the Armenians worldwide. In  our country the public accord should be built around this idea. It  should become a new formula of solidarity for everybody," Sargsyan  said, noting that Armenians have always sought to link the North and  the South and to build bridges between the East and the West. 

Sargsyan said that today Armenia is open for cooperation and the warm  and good neighborly relations with Georgia and Iran are direct  evidence of it. "Our willingness for cooperation is also proved by  our EEU membership, as well as by our mutual understanding and  economic partnership with the EU," he stressed. 

In the meantime, the policy conducted towards Armenia by Azerbaijan  and Turkey, leaves no alternative to the republic. "We have no choice  other than striving for excellence," he noted. 

According to the President, Armenia must become unequalled in the  areas where the growth opportunities do not depend on the policy of  the evil-minded neighbors. He added that Armenia has already outlined  a number of priorities such as agriculture, education, innovations,  information technologies, light industry, mining, jewelry, financial  and banking services, and tourism. This list can be extended, he  said. In these areas, Armenia's prevalence over the competitors  should be absolute rather than relative. "This is our national goal  and idea. We should really be competitive in the entire region," he  said. "The specified areas cannot develop in isolation," he stressed,  noting that the areas can be affected by negative phenomena. "We  should reduce and liquidate the negative phenomena," he stressed.