Expert says Armenians expect clear guidelines from new prime minister
14.09.2016,
17:29
The first thing the new Armenian government should do is to tell the citizens and businesses the real picture of the economy, economist Vahagn Khachatryan said to a news conference today.
YEREVAN, September 14. /ARKA/. The first thing the new Armenian government should do is to tell the citizens and businesses the real picture of the economy, economist Vahagn Khachatryan said to a news conference today.
"The people and businesses should first of all clearly understand how to act in this or that economic situation", he said.
In his opinion, people should not expect serious economic changes, in particular, regarding the fight against corruption and monopolies.
According to him, Armenia’s major problems are not economic; they are political. "The resolution of economic problems requires political decisions, not new tools, however, no changes regarding corruption, monopolies, human rights will follow because the current government can only exist under these conditions", he said.
Vahagn Khachatryan said Karen Karapetyan's program will differ little from the previous government programs. According to him, the appointment of a new prime minister is deliberately timed to precede the upcoming general elections slated for early April next year in order to distract the population’s attention from above-mentioned problems.
"The only thing that the new prime minister could do is to reduce natural gas prices. In May there were reports that Russian Gazprom told Armenia’s government it could cut the price of gas delivered to the country, but the government rejected the proposal, since it could lead to a reduction in tax revenues. In order to win the trust of the people the new government may cut the gas price", said the economist.
Speaking about a controversial new Tax Code pushed through parliament in June in the first reading over strong objections voiced by the opposition and some business leaders, Khachatryan said the new government should decline it because it is designed to only solve fiscal problems, not economic.
"It is necessary to focus on the development of SMEs and fair application of the law," said Khachatryan. -0-
"The people and businesses should first of all clearly understand how to act in this or that economic situation", he said.
In his opinion, people should not expect serious economic changes, in particular, regarding the fight against corruption and monopolies.
According to him, Armenia’s major problems are not economic; they are political. "The resolution of economic problems requires political decisions, not new tools, however, no changes regarding corruption, monopolies, human rights will follow because the current government can only exist under these conditions", he said.
Vahagn Khachatryan said Karen Karapetyan's program will differ little from the previous government programs. According to him, the appointment of a new prime minister is deliberately timed to precede the upcoming general elections slated for early April next year in order to distract the population’s attention from above-mentioned problems.
"The only thing that the new prime minister could do is to reduce natural gas prices. In May there were reports that Russian Gazprom told Armenia’s government it could cut the price of gas delivered to the country, but the government rejected the proposal, since it could lead to a reduction in tax revenues. In order to win the trust of the people the new government may cut the gas price", said the economist.
Speaking about a controversial new Tax Code pushed through parliament in June in the first reading over strong objections voiced by the opposition and some business leaders, Khachatryan said the new government should decline it because it is designed to only solve fiscal problems, not economic.
"It is necessary to focus on the development of SMEs and fair application of the law," said Khachatryan. -0-
