Thursday, November 1 2018 16:26

ArmInfo.There are no negative processes in the economy of Armenia, on the contrary, there is a tendency to improve it and change its structure, since the  current structure of the republic's economy does not satisfy the  government. The candidate for the post of RA Prime Minister Nikol  Pashinyan stated this from the rostrum of the parliament.

He stressed that Armenia should be transformed from an agrarian,  mining-exporting republic into a technologically developed country  exporting food products.  Referring to the economic indicators of the  first 9 months of 2018, Pashinyan noted that, despite the 6.5%  economic growth, the figures for this September compared to the same  period in 2017 showed a decline.

"I want to dwell on economic indicators in detail. Look, what has  happened in June of this year? Due to what, unprecedented economic  growth was ensured? due to the rates in the sweepstakes during the  World Cup. Meanwhile, the state budget did not benefit from  the  growth of these indicators, because sweepstakes work on fixed taxes,  regardless of how much their revenues increase. We are not satisfied  with this situation. As I said, we must change the structure of the  economy in favor of the development of high technologies and the  processing industry. The structure of agriculture must change from  the old non- competitive, it must be modernized and competitive. We  must work on planning agriculture and its risks so that we don't have  to import tomatoes next year at the height of the season ",   Pashinyan declared.  He noted that, despite the 20% increase in  exports of agricultural products, the performance of the sector as a  whole is unsatisfactory. He explained it with various problems,  including the presence of "shady" gardens that are irrigated, but  their owners do not pay for water. "In addition, in a number of  agricultural areas, indicators are exaggerated. This also applies to  the production of cognac. Manufacturers often import cognac alcohol,  but wanting to present their production as purely Armenian cognac,  forge documents and show in them the purchases of grapes that did not  actually take place" explained the candidate for the PM.  He also  believes that low economic indicators are caused by the  over-dependence of the country's economy on the mining industry. "The  mere closure of the Teghut deposit has dramatically affected the  economic performance, as the sector recorded a 29% decline. But it  should not be so, the country's economy should not depend so much on  one enterprise and one industry. The mining industry should not be  the backbone of the Armenian economy. But against this background, it  is noteworthy that the processing industry individually recorded an  11% increase, " Pashinyan said.

He noted that trends in the mining industry had an impact on the  country's export performance. In general, exports fell by 15%, but  export of finished products increased.  Pashinyan stressed that the  same state of affairs can be seen in construction. According to him,  in this field, Armenia recorded a 4% increase instead of the previous  11%. "This is due to the fact that the major share of construction  was carried out at the Amulsar deposit. In 2018 these volumes have  decreased for  obvious reasons. And in the current conditions 4%  growth can be considered a good result. At the same time, volumes of  road construction have been increased 2-fold more than it was planned  for 2018 ", - said the candidate. Against this background, Pashinyan  noted with satisfaction the increase in prices in the real estate  market by 14%, as well as the doubling of mortgage lending figures.

Pashinyan also noted an improvement in the high-tech and processing  industries. "As a result of the fact that companies operating in  priority areas are exempted from VAT and customs duties for a time,  they recorded a 70% increase, and the number of jobs in these areas  increased by 30%," Pashinyan assured, adding that import of machine  tools and equipment increased by 75%, and imports of raw materials by  25%, which also indicates a change in the structure of the country's  economy.

Pashinyan also noted with satisfaction a 10% increase in business  lending, as well as an increase in bank deposits, which led to a  decrease in lending rates for individuals by 2-3%. All this in  general had a positive effect on the indices of the migration  balance. In general, the number of arrivals in the country increased  by 9 thousand people.

The candidate for PM also pointed to an unprecedented growth in  revenues to the treasury, which, according to the State Revenue  Committee, amounted to 120 billion 750 million drams. "This indicator  shows that the tension between entrepreneurs and the SRC that had  occurred several months ago has decreased, and now a normal working  atmosphere has been created between business and fiscal bodies,"  Pashinyan stated.  He also assured that the government is currently  working on enhancing investment flows. "To this end, we have created  equal competitive conditions for investors, whose investments will be  protected by law. We intend to attract investors by establishing  stability and predictability in the domestic market and enhancing the  country's external image. As I have repeatedly said, we do not intend  to redistribute property, because it will undermine investor's  confidence in us, "the prime minister candidate concluded.