Nikol Pashinyan was surprised by the 2016 budget execution report, which was presented by Finance Minister Vardan Aramyan.
According to Pashinyan, the government has analyzed what is happening in the EU, what is happening in the member states of the Eurasian Economic Union, but there is no reference to the April war, “How has the war affected our economic environment? How capable is our economy to bear the burden of the potential and inevitable war? What is the impact of the war on the economy? It was said that after the April war a huge amount of expenditure has been made, hasn’t it appeared in GDP?”.
Pashinyan said that during the war year, there were the lowest historical money transfers, “With this, we, our statehood, state that in the war years we have a serious crisis of confidence as a state”.
Aramyan replied, “It is very difficult to make such an assessment”. He said that on the contrary, the April war was the main reason that we had 11 percent, and not 15-20 percent decline. The exchange rate has also dropped in Russia, our compatriots generate incomes in Russian rubles there. It’s hard to say, actually, whether they have transferred more or less.
Hripsime JEBEJYAN
