Stable economic growth will be transformed into inclusive economic development year after year. Sardaryan

When it was officially announced that the economic growth in Armenia was 7.5% in 2017, the most frequently asked question is the following: to what extent did the society feel the positive effect of that growth, to what extent did it affect the general well-being? This was announced by Shushan Sardaryan, a member of the RPA faction, at the time of announcements in the National Assembly, noting that yes, the government managed to achieve an unprecedented 7.5% growth over the last 10 years, when the world’s average economic growth rate was estimated at 3.1%. 

“Let’s agree that the higher the number of economic growth, the higher the expectations of the society. But, somehow focusing on the mechanical index of GDP growth, we are surprised that the society remains unconnected to it. Therefore, not only the indicator of economic growth, but also the general development should be targeted. In this regard, a new conceptual approach is dictated by President Serzh Sargsyan’s emphasis that economic growth should be inclusive and the results should be available to all sections of society and especially to the socially vulnerable sections. It means that the stable and balanced development of the economy should gradually lead to an increase in the result, under which every member of the society, first of all, with a low income threshold, will feel on his skin that growth has been recorded,” he noted.
 
Along with this, the MP continued, the private sector, especially the agriculture and light industry sectors, should be able to adequately solve the employment problem thanks to the investments, because these sectors create maximum jobs and are important from the point of view of inclusion.

Sardaryan raises the question: to what extent was the economic growth of the previous years inclusive, to what extent did it contribute to the growth of well-being?

“Perceptions are different, in one case there is a growth effect, in another case there is not. And in order not to rely on subjective evaluations, inclusiveness should be truly measurable. For five years now, the World Economic Forum has evaluated the inclusiveness of the economic growth of more than a hundred countries through the Inclusive Development Index, which, in addition to gross domestic product, takes into account 11 other indicators, from equal income distribution to life expectancy, public debt and a healthy living environment. 
In the organization’s latest report, developing Armenia ranked 45th among 77 countries, improving its inclusiveness index by 0.62 points in the last 5 years. Of course, this is not a big number to feel the impact, but it is important that there is a positive dynamic,” he said.

According to the RPA deputy, the positive economic developments of our country are also evidenced by the evaluations of international rating organizations. Moody’s, earlier also Fitch took into account the economic growth, financial system and fiscal reforms to improve Armenia’s rating, they also reviewed the economic growth forecasts for the coming years. “In today’s situation, the economic prerequisites can be said to be system-creating and contribute to the transformation of sustainable economic growth into inclusive economic development year after year,” added the deputy.