A few days ago, the legislative proposal of the Cabinet, according to which starting from January 1, 2013, the minimum wage in Armenia must be 35 thousand AMD instead of the current 32500 AMD, passed first reading in the parliament. Increasing the minimum wage by
2500 AMD has already caused anger and annoyance among citizens of the Republic of Armenia. www.aravot.am tried to find out during a conversation with social figures representing different fields whether the increase would help citizens anyhow. Anahit Bakhshyan, the deputy director of the National Institute of Education, noted during a conversation with us, “2500 AMD would not heal anyone’s wounds. By taking that public step, by increasing the minimum wage by 2500, the Cabinet just mocked the poor people, since no one will say thank you for that. It is a mockery of the person whose wage has become 35 thousand AMD. If they rob the government more than make efficient calculations, 2500 AMD may be seen here. So I don’t say it, they say that the state budget is robbed by different officials. If that money is spent on the people, naturally, the wage can be increased not by 2500, but by 25 thousand AMD.”
Social figure Karine Hakobyan, a former secretary of the Heritage Party executive committee, said with regard to the same issue, “One doesn’t need to be financier to understand that if there is political will, the wage can be increased by 2-3 times even given the capacity of our budget. If you look at the budget, you will see that the percent defining how much money is spent on wages is very small. According to our budget, very little money is spent on specific expenses, whereas much money is spent on unclear expenses. It is a work style, it has been passed on from one budget to another for years, that is why the money doesn’t serve its purpose.”
As for increasing the minimum wage by 2500 AMD, our interlocutor said, “Even it is offensive, since the function of the Cabinet is not to deal with little things. Our society is not that kind of a society that can allow the government to deal with little things and details. Fundamental change is needed, all wages should be raised by at least two to three times.”
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Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
