ArmInfo.One gets the impression that the Armenian government has confused the indicators of economic growth and inflation.
But it should have been the other way around, since the country needs completely different rates of economic development. Otherwise, it will not be able to resolve the issues of its safety. Second President of Armenia, leader of the "Armenia" bloc Robert Kocharian stated this at a press conference held today. He recalled that last year the drop in GDP was 7.4%. According to the Central Bank, this year economic growth is projected at 4.2%. " I think that what will be higher than these [indicators] will simply be drawn," said Kocharian. He referred to a simple calculation: in order to reach the indicators of 2019, the country had to ensure growth of at least 8% this year. "We didn't provide it, and I'm sure that we will not provide it next year either. It turns out that 2020-2022 will be inactive years," noted Kacharyan.
The second president recalled that in 2018 it was about a kind of "magic wand", but it turned out that the action of this wand had a reverse mode. "This is not to strengthen the economy and improve the well-being of the people, but on the contrary, to increase the level of poverty and reduce the volume of the economy," Kocharian said. He also stressed that this year the level of public debt exceeded the level of $ 9 billion, in just the last 3 years it increased by $ 2.3 billion: "This means that the 4.2% growth was partly due to the growth of the external debt".
In Kocharian's opinion, official inflation of 9.6%, the objectivity of which is in doubt, is too high. "In conditions of such inflation, the state is obliged to index pensions and salaries. What is not being done and is not expected. The announced programs of billions of dollars in investments turned out to be myths and lies. And all these years, the authorities fed the people with unfounded optimism, because of which people took on a large consumer credit load. Today we are faced with the most serious problem - the quality of loan portfolios. As a result, I think that we will have a crisis in the issue of servicing consumer loans. Serious measures are needed here from the government and the Central Bank, "Kocharian said. He also added that if the government claims that the people are the highest value for the country, then why the people are now fleeing the country. As Kocharian said, according to official estimates, 103 thousand people left Armenia in the first 9 months of this year alone - this is the negative balance. Only 34 thousand people have taken Russian citizenship. This is one medium-sized city.
Speaking about the social situation, he noted that this year the level of poverty in the country has increased to 27-30% and "this is enough to say that nothing has been done in economic terms. There may have been attempts, but, in fact, no results have been achieved. In this situation, the welfare of the upper stratum of civil servants has significantly increased. Bonuses are handed out in a shameless way, and we see what large costs are spent on the service of these people - limousines, state dachas and expensive business trips. "This is a feast in time of plague" stated head of the "Armenia" opposition bloc Robert Kocharian.
