Saturday,
Armenia Spends Over $300 Million On Pandemic Relief Programs
• Robert Zargarian
An empty street cafe in downtown Yerevan at the start of the coronavirus
pandemic in March 2020
The Armenian government has spent a total of about 150 billion drams (over $300
million) since March on relief and stimulus packages for businesses and
individual citizens affected by the coronavirus pandemic, according to an
official.
Economy Minister Tigran Khachatrian said at a press conference on Friday that of
this sum 93 billion drams (over $190 million) have been allocated through banks
in the forms of loans.
“We decided to focus on specific issues of each sphere and to direct funds of
support for targeted solutions to emerging or existing and expected issues,” the
minister said.
Earlier this week the government approved two more coronavirus aid packages
targeting sectors most affected by the pandemic. Under these programs assistance
will be given to the spheres of tourism and agriculture.
Khachatrian said that the government’s support for the tourism sector, which is
facing problems all over the world due to the coronavirus pandemic, as well as
related areas, including the hotel business and public catering, will be aimed
at preserving jobs.
“We are dealing with a situation where companies see their turnover reduced by
more than half. On the other hand, in this situation they want to save jobs and
keep workers who are part of their workforce,” the minister said.
Armenian Economy Minister Tigran Khachatrian at a press conference in Yerevan,
August 14, 2020
Under this program monthly support will be provided to companies with at least
three employees. Those companies that have retained at least 70 percent of their
personnel during the pandemic will receive from the government a full salary of
every third employee. Otherwise, the government will subsidize the salary of
every fourth employee.
“This is a very good message for businesses that if they are at the threshold of
having retained 70 percent of their personnel they may hire new employees and
receive government support for 33 percent instead of 25 percent of their
payroll. So, they will be able to offset a significant part of additional
financial expenditures for expanding staff or increasing salaries through
government support,” Khachatrian said.
Under the other program approved by the government this week assistance will be
provided to grape purchasing companies and farmers. Because of the pandemic
consumption of wine and brandy has fallen, leaving wine and brandy producers
with less revenue. Assistance under this program will be provided in the form of
interest-free loans to farmers who sell grapes to wineries and brandy-making
companies.
According to the minister, there is no cap on the money provided for pandemic
relief and stimulus programs. “We have not reached a point where we can say that
if this limit is exceeded we will not provide support,” he said.
He said that the government will soon announce new programs of support to
exporters and companies that plan to be technically reequipped.
Khachatrian does not rule out that Armenia will close the pandemic-affected
economic year with about a five-percent GDP fall. Last year, Armenia’s GDP grew
by 7.6 percent and its economic activity index grew by 7.8 percent. The
government said the figures were unprecedented for recent years.
“We hope that the results of the third and fourth quarters of this year will
show some improvement over the second quarter,” the minister said.
He said that this forecast is in line with the trends of the world economy.
“Leading international organizations predict a global economic decline of up to
6 percent. It is also expected that 2021 will be the main year of recovery. In
other words, there is no higher global optimism until the end of this year than
the indicators that I’ve mentioned,” Khachatrian said.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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