YEREVAN, August 20. /ARKA/. The idea of inclusive economic growth, announced by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at an August 17 rally, is good, but difficult to implement, Hrant Mikaelyan, an economic researcher at the Yerevan-based Caucasus Institute, said today.
Speaking to tens of thousands of Armenians, who gathered to mark the first 100 days of his government, Pashinyan promised to replace the current ineffective economic model with an inclusive one, saying that all citizens will receive equal opportunities to run businesses and all will be equal before the law and the tax authorities.
According to Mikaelyan, the idea is difficult to implement, since the number of wealthy people is limited. The situation can be corrected by equitable distribution of income, which should be done in a way as to not go against the market laws.
In his words, for inclusive economic growth to succeed, the growth of incomes should outstrip economic growth indices for several years and that should go in parallel with elimination of monopolies and reducing unemployment rate.
On the results of the first 100 days of the government, Mikaelyan pointed out a set of good macroeconomic indicators, recalling that the first 30 days of the government were spent on personnel reshuffling.
According to the National Statistical Committee, Armenia’s economic activity grew by 9.3% in the first half of 2018 when opposed to the same time span of 2017, according to the numbers, released today by the National Statistical Committee (NSC).
The economic activity in July increased by 11.1% from the year earlier, while in June it grew by 9.6% from 2017 June. Armenia’s foreign trade turnover in the first 7 months of this year amounted to about $4.089.8 billion, having increased by 26.8% from the same period of 2017. The government’s projection of GDP growth for this year is 4.5%
The positive aspect of the new government's work, according to Mikaelyan is that bringing large businesses to the net and subsequent fines did not lead to the closure of businesses. "This is very important for economic stability," he said. -0-
