YEREVAN, February 11. /ARKA/. Gagik Makarayn, the chairman of the National Union of Employers, described Armenian government’s plan of actions for the next five years, adopted by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s Cabinet last week, as “luxurious”, adding, however, that Pashinyan needs a team of seasoned officials to implement it.
According to Makaryan, it is important that various components of the plan coincide with one another and emanate from one another, complementing each other. ‘Personally, I really liked the emphasis placed on modernizing the current enterprises, not just creating new ones. For this, tools are provided, including tax breaks and financial affordability, for which the Central Bank and the government will take all measures,” said Makaryan. He also singled out the determination of the government to fight against corruption, create a level playing field and increase the responsibility of state officials.
Makaryan said also that the projected 5% economic growth is relatively low, and there is a disproportion between the projected GDP, exports and the state budget.
He said calculations show that the projected budget growth to $3.9 billion by 2023 from the current $2.7 billion as well as the projected exports that should be 1.7 times more than the state budget, seem unrealistic for a country that does not have oil resources. According to the expert, such indicators cause concern and need additional substantiation.
Makaryan said to achieve such high export volumes, emphasis should be placed on the diversification of transport hubs. However, Armenia has only a single overland route through the Stepantsminda-Lars highway across Georgia to Russia, which is periodically closed because of bad weather conditions.
According to Makaryan, another cause of concern is the plan to reduce extreme poverty. According to him, to eliminate it, it is necessary to create at least 20 thousand jobs with a salary of 250 thousand drams and more so that families can overcome the barrier of extreme poverty, or create 40 thousand jobs with a salary of 100-130 thousand drams.
According to Makaryan, these factors will wither force serious changes in the composition of the government in the coming months, or subsequent negative phenomena, including a decline in public confidence.
“The plan of actions presents in great details human rights, environmental issues, assistance to start-ups, the possibility of tax incentives, etc. But we need to understand that the possibilities of the government and lack of skilled personnel are disturbing,” said Makaryan.
“The current composition of the government will not be able to implement such a program; it is necessary to seriously revise the personnel policy, replenish the team with professionals, because in the end everything will be written off as the premier’s shortcomings,” said Makaryan.
In general, according to Makaryan, the government’s program is very positive and contains many positive components, but its implementation requires qualified personnel who can resolve issues rather than make declarative statements. –0–