YEREVAN, September 17. / ARKA /. An Armenian parliament member from the opposition Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) has warned today that a new wave of global financial crisis may hit Armenia’s economy severely.
Speaking at a news conference Artsvik Minasian said a shock at global markets may translate into a disastrous earthquake for Armenia. Minasian said fluctuations in commodity prices can not be avoided and since Armenia is heavily dependent on international processes, including money transfers from labor migrants and commodity prices, any change in Russia or Europe will affect its economy.
“The problem is that our economy will again appear unprepared for this, because the government does not pay due attention to making our economy immune against external impacts, focusing instead of finding situational solutions”, he said.
Artsvik Minasian claimed that the current structure of Armenia’s economy does not allow to counteract a possible impact of fluctuations in prices of oil, gas and metals. He said in order to avoid the devastating impact of a possible crisis on Armenia’s economy the government must revise the ideology of its ongoing programs, “because in all projects the government does not bear responsibility for its citizens.’
“The first thing the top authority must do is to disband this government. That will be the best solution because for some time it will not be able to intervene in economy, because any intervention yields negative consequences,’ he said.
The second important thing, according to Minasian is to change the legislation to ensure that economic entities have the opportunity to create more value-added products. Minasian said economic developments in Armenia have significantly increased its dependence on external intervention.
“Armenia owes 40% of its foreign debt to World Bank, 22% to IMF and 14.5% to Russia. These centers will be trying to guide us all the time, and we never will be able to find our own way,” he said. -0-
