Economist accuses government of deliberate underestimating of projected growth
21.01.2020,
17:43
The 4.9% economic growth rate, projected by the government of Armenia for 2020 is intentionally underestimated, Tatul Manaseryan, the head of Alternative think tank in Yerevan, told a news conference today.
YEREVAN, January 21. /ARKA/. The 4.9% economic growth rate, projected by the government of Armenia for 2020 is intentionally underestimated, Tatul Manaseryan, the head of Alternative think tank in Yerevan, told a news conference today.
He said this practice, used by the previous governments, has been inherited by the incumbent government too. According to Manaseryan, this gives the government the opportunity to brag at the end of the year about higher than projected growth.
Manasyan said the main problem of the Armenian economy now is that locally-made goods cannot compete with similar goods at world markets and some of the reasons are small volume of output and ineffective marketing. Besides, he said, there is no a clear-cut concept of an economic security strategy that takes into account all the risks.
"The protests and dissatisfaction of the population with various government's decisions indicate the absence of calculations and analysis of the possible impact of the decisions," Manaseryan said.
He said economic growth should not be driven by one or two sectors, as is the case in Armenia, but by many sectors to become the locomotive of economic development.
He praised the authorities for road construction and repair, the reduction of corruption risks in this sector, emphasizing, however, that this alone is not enough, especially that part of the government spending does not correspond to the main points of its plan of actions.
"There is an increase in budget revenue collection rate, which is positive, and such phenomena as" kickbacks " are in the past, but state funds are not always used correctly," Manaseryan said.
According to him, the increase in salaries and bonuses of government officials stimulates them to work better, but such incentives must be earned, while in many areas there is no progress. -0-
He said this practice, used by the previous governments, has been inherited by the incumbent government too. According to Manaseryan, this gives the government the opportunity to brag at the end of the year about higher than projected growth.
Manasyan said the main problem of the Armenian economy now is that locally-made goods cannot compete with similar goods at world markets and some of the reasons are small volume of output and ineffective marketing. Besides, he said, there is no a clear-cut concept of an economic security strategy that takes into account all the risks.
"The protests and dissatisfaction of the population with various government's decisions indicate the absence of calculations and analysis of the possible impact of the decisions," Manaseryan said.
He said economic growth should not be driven by one or two sectors, as is the case in Armenia, but by many sectors to become the locomotive of economic development.
He praised the authorities for road construction and repair, the reduction of corruption risks in this sector, emphasizing, however, that this alone is not enough, especially that part of the government spending does not correspond to the main points of its plan of actions.
"There is an increase in budget revenue collection rate, which is positive, and such phenomena as" kickbacks " are in the past, but state funds are not always used correctly," Manaseryan said.
According to him, the increase in salaries and bonuses of government officials stimulates them to work better, but such incentives must be earned, while in many areas there is no progress. -0-
