“Yes, we will have a certain reduction of poverty at the end of the year, but at the same time, the rating organizations warn that next to the double-digit economic growth, at the end of the year, we will have a double-digit increase in poverty. The increase in poverty, instead of 27 percent at the beginning of the year, may reach 48 percent at the end of the year. This is the biggest warning to the Armenian authorities, the political and public sphere, and the scientific and expert circles, that by joining efforts, they should try to mitigate the results of this worsening indicator on our society,” said the coordinator of the Eurasian Expert Club, political analyst Aram Safaryan.
A member of the club, doctor-professor of economic sciences Tatul Manaseryan considers the reality of poverty growth parallel to economic growth to be paradoxical, in the sense that the growth of the economy should lead to an increase in the population’s income and reduction of poverty, while in Armenia today, the picture is the opposite.
According to the economist, if the poverty rate is close to 48 percent, and in the Shirak province, that rate has already exceeded 50 percent. It means that every second citizen of Armenia is poor today. In these realities, according to the economist, the Armenian economy has revived in recent months mainly at the expense of those who moved from the Russian Federation to the Republic of Armenia, which boosted consumption, starting from consumer goods to the real estate market. “But we should not be excited by all this, because I call this economic doping. When the influence of doping will end, peace will be established, and it must happen, in this case, Armenia will have a lot to think about.”
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Tatul Manaseryan also emphasized that Armenia left the GSP + system last year because it entered the ranks of middle-income countries, which means that it was deprived of preferential conditions for exports to the EU, USA, and Japan. “Let me say that this has already affected our export index. Exports have decreased, especially to the European continent. The economist also added that in this situation the EAEU market has acquired the meaning of a safety cushion for our country, providing ample export opportunities for Armenia.
To all those critics who have a negative attitude towards the membership of Armenia in the EAEU, I want to ask the counter question: let them be kind, indicate an alternative, which market can replace the EAEU market, isn’t what they are promoting malicious, and with that aren’t they pushing us to the economic abyss when they say give up on the Russian market, the Belarusian market, the Kazakh market?” Rejecting cooperation with EAEU, according to the economist, would be tantamount to economic suicide for Armenia. He noticed that even in the stage of Western restrictions, many European companies, including some banks, do not give up the Russian market and continue to cooperate with the Russian Federation, breaking the ban on sanctions.
Nelly GRIGORYAN
