2024 another year of unkept promises - opposition MP

ArmInfo. The year 2024 can be described as another year of unfulfilled promises by the Armenian authorities. This was written in his article by Tadevos Avetisyan, a member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia from the  opposition faction "Armenia". He recalled the recent condemnations held in the country's parliament, during which the implementation of the government program for 2021-2026 in 2024 was discussed. The deputy noted that during the discussions, the government representatives, in order to somehow hide the complete failure of the promises made to the people, distort the objective situation and the emerging new socio-economic problems, again transferred the issue to  the "former-present" format. "Without arguments to boast about, they tried to compare themselves with the previous government using selectively selected indicators. In fact, the report on the  implementation of the 2024 program can be characterized as a summary of repetitive texts about "laying asphalt and paving streets," the parliamentarian noted.

He presented some indicators regarding the true nature of the current state administration, which the authorities carefully hide. "At first, when they came to power, they promised to bring universal happiness, namely: economic growth of at least 7% per year, halving the poverty rate, and eliminating extreme poverty. All these promises remained just promises against the backdrop of growing populism. In reality, the following official indicators have been recorded over the past 7 years: in 2017, economic growth was 7.5%, and in 2018-2024, the average annual economic growth rate was 5.5%, which is 2 percentage points less than planned. In 2018, the poverty rate was  23.5%, the extreme poverty rate was 1%, and according to the latest published data, in 2023, these indicators, instead of being halved and zeroed out, increased to 23.7% and 1.1%, respectively. By the way, according to the data they provided, during this period, state budget revenues increased by about $ 4.2 billion, and the public debt doubled, increasing by about $ 7 billion. In their 2021 election program, they again promised to ensure economic growth of at least 7% per year, improve the economic structure, diversify foreign economic relations aimed primarily at weakening economic dependence on one  country, attract billions of US dollars in foreign investment, bring the minimum pension in line with the cost of the food basket, and the average pension - with the cost of the minimum consumer basket. But what actually happened? According to various expert estimates, including international ones, about 2/3 of the average annual economic growth in 2022-2024 comes from external factors caused by the Russian-Ukrainian war. With the decline in the influence of the above factor, the rate of economic growth dropped from 12.6% in 2022 to 5.9% in 2024, and this year the government expects 5% growth at  best, "Avetisyan noted.

According to him, instead of improving the structure of the economy and progressively developing the real sector, the problems are growing and deepening. Agriculture is in "free fall": in 2024, almost zero growth was recorded - 1.6%, which is almost 4 times lower than the average economic growth. Without the well- known phenomenon of re-export of Russian gold, the industrial sector recorded a decline, and instead of foreign economic diversification, economic dependence  on one country is significantly increasing. Foreign trade turnover with Russia in 2024 continued to grow rapidly - by 57% compared to the previous year, and its share in the total volume of trade increased by 4 percentage points, reaching 41.1%. At the same time, foreign trade turnover with EU member states decreased by about 12%, and its share decreased by 4.7 percentage points, amounting to only 7.7%.

"Instead of constant promises to attract billions of dollars of  foreign investment, in 2024 there was an outflow of foreign capital from the real sector of the economy, in particular, the net inflow of total foreign investment was negative - about $ 291 million, and the net inflow of foreign direct investment was - $ 115 million. Minimum and basic pensions, as well as the amount of unemployment benefits, have not been increased for about three years. Thus, the real incomes of citizens of these social groups are declining due to the rise in prices for basic necessities. The minimum pension is 36,000 drams,  which is 14% less than the cost of the food basket (41,980 drams), the amount of unemployment benefits is more than 2 times less than the cost of the minimum consumer basket (75,811 drams). At the same time, the average pension is less than the cost of the minimum consumer basket by more than 40%. In other words, those who receive the minimum pension and social security benefits are extremely poor,  while those who receive the average pension are moderately poor. Moreover, despite a slight decrease in the poverty rate by 1%, the number of families receiving social assistance has sharply decreased as a result of anti-social policies. In 2024 alone, the number of such families has decreased by 7,271, or approximately 11%, most of whom are actually poor. In fact, the targeting of social assistance is also decreasing," the opposition parliamentarian stated.