ArmInfo.In 2022 and 2023, Armenia managed to overfulfil the country's economic growth rates. Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan announced on May 29 in the country's parliament.
According to him, according to election promises, the country's authorities pledged to ensure an average of 7% GDP growth y-o-y. In 2023, the growth rate was 8.7%. Since 2018, the unemployment rate has decreased by 5%. In accordance with the new methodology, the unemployment rate dropped to 12% last year and the authorities will take additional steps to reduce these volumes.
The head of the Armenian Cabinet also touched upon the situation with cashback for purchases of goods and services by pensioners. According to the prime minister, cigarettes and gasoline are the most purchased products from pension bank cards in Armenia, and the difference with the purchase of other goods is striking. In 2023, the state spent more than 5 billion drams on this cashback, and the total volume of their non-cash purchases amounted to 60.1 billion drams. This program, effective from July 1, 2022, helps make purchases cashless and reduce shadow circulation, which in itself is good. "Of course, we need to develop the mechanism for these payments. But substantive changes should also be made here so that it doesn't turn out that we are helping our pensioners, or their grandchildren who buy cigarettes using their grandparents' cards, to smoke more," Pashinyan added.
