Battle for growth or decline: Armenian Ministry of Economy accuses National Statistical Committee
YEREVAN, November 29. /ARKA/. In an interview with Civilnet, Armenian Economy Minister Gevorg Papoyan accused the National Statistical Committee of reporting low economic growth figures that do not reflect the reality.
According to his estimates, the reduction in the overall economic growth figure at this time was influenced by data from the agricultural sector. The Minister noted that, according to National Statistical Committee, agriculture declined by 8%, with the crop production sector specifically dropping by 16%.
Papoyan criticized the calculation methodology currently employed by the Statistical Committee.
"Since they don't know how to calculate, they call the regional centers. This method was used 20 years ago when I was a student, and nothing has changed in the Statistics Committee in 20 years," he said.
According to him, no new methods have been developed, and as a result, governors give instructions to the heads of communities, who in turn pass them on to the heads of administrative centers.
Papoyan noted that he spoke with the heads of 10 centers, who stated that there was no calculation methodology.
According to him, the fact that agricultural exports have increased overall is evidence that National Statistical Committee data is incorrect.
At the same time, Papoyan did not respond to the interviewer's comment that in previous years, when high growth rates were recorded, the authorities had never expressed dissatisfaction with the work of the Statistical Committee.
It should be noted that this is not the first time representatives of the ruling party have criticized the Statistical Committee. A week ago, Babken Tunyan, a member of parliament from the ‘’Civil Contract’’ faction and deputy chairman of the National Assembly's Economic Affairs Committee, urged not to trust the agricultural data provided by the Statistical Committee of Armenia.
At the same time, according to the published data from Statistical Committee, gross production in agriculture, forestry, and fish farming increased by 2% to 665 billion drams in January-September 2024. Meanwhile, production in the agricultural sector rose by 1.8% over the 9 months, totaling 628.7 billion drams.
Investigating the reasons for the discrepancy between the indicators
In light of the discrepancy between the published data and the statements of officials, the ARKA news agency reached out to Arsen Avakyan, the head of the Agriculture and Food Supply Statistics Department at Statistical Committee, for a comment. According to him, Minister Papoyan ьуфте the data for October 2024 in comparison with October 2023.
In this case, Avakyan noted, an 8% decline was indeed recorded. When asked why this data is not publicly available, he explained that agricultural data is published quarterly, and the October figures will be included in the fourth-quarter 2024 report.
How Statistics Are Collected
Avakyan previously explained to the Armenpress news agency how the Statistical Committee collects data in an unclear manner.
"First of all, I would like to note that the statistical units related to this matter are 'all municipalities and commercial organizations engaged in agriculture,'" he said.
He also mentioned that municipalities submit a monthly consolidated statistical report to Statistical Committee using form 29-GTX, "On the gross harvest of agricultural crops and the progress of autumn sowing."
In October 2024, all municipalities submitted the aforementioned report (all statistical reports are regulatory legal acts and must be completed and submitted by the respondents).
At the same time, legal entities and individual entrepreneurs submit a monthly statistical report to Statistical Committee using form 29-GT, "On the gross harvest of agricultural crops and the progress of autumn sowing.-0-
