ArmInfo."For 20 years, I have asked the previous authorities, their predecessors and the current government to begin serious work on developing measures aimed at stimulating investment, moving from a policy of maintaining consumption to a policy of stimulating supply," said well-known economist, former Prime Minister of Armenia Hrant Bagratyan speaking at the V Congress of the Republican Union of Employers of Armenia.
In this context, he explained that the Armenian economy is developing on the basis of a consumption policy. However, a moment comes when it is impossible to continue this way, since the latter does not provide for the introduction of new technologies and the modernization of the economy. "We need to start working on the proposal policy," Bagratyan said.
The former prime minister also conditioned his opinion on the state of the country's economy in terms of a number of indicators, including GDP per capita, which is $ 4.000 in Armenia, while the world average is about $ 12,000. In addition, Bagratyan noted that the share of solar energy in the total structure of generated energy in the country is 0.8%, while in developed countries it reaches 9.5%, and in the world as a whole - 4%. In terms of the use of electric vehicles, according to the former prime minister, Armenia is also several times inferior to the world average. "This means that in 10 years we will have an even worse situation in the country than today," Bagratyan concluded.
Bagratyan also stated that in order to have a supply policy at the basis of the economy, first of all it is necessary to have a specialized banking system, while we have a universal one. "This is what our leaders of the Central Bank did not do," he complained. The former prime minister stressed that universal standards, including those for reserves, are in effect in the banking system of Armenia, and no incentives have been created for investment project financing. "Why should banks engage in investment projects in this way if they can be limited to trade deals?" He complained, noting that the country was 15-20 years late with these important decisions.
At the same time, Bagratyan urged not to believe the statement of the Regulator about the need to adhere to the so-called "floating rate" in its monetary policy. <These are all fairy tales. Do not believe, there is no such thing for a long time in the world. We must have a fixed rate that is constantly getting cheaper, supporting a manufacturer and stimulating exports>, he declared.
Thirdly, according to the former prime minister, in order to switch to a proposal policy, it is necessary to abolish VAT payments at the border. Moreover, in his opinion, Armenia should gradually switch to a turnover tax, which will allow differentiating taxes by industry, for example, to set 9% for trade, and 0% for IT.
Another important component Bagratyan called the formation of a state sovereign investment fund. "Why can't we create a sovereign fund when, according to the very minimum estimates, the current assets of all Armenians in the world are about $ 90 billion drams (y-o-yl income), and the entire fortune is estimated at about $ 240 billion? And are not we able to spend at least 10% of these funds on the development of the country's economy, on its modernization?," Bagratyan noted, complaining that both the former government and the current government are either unable or unwilling to solve these problems.
