Armenian economy buried in debts

By Azernews

By Rashid Shirinov

The more the Sargsyan regime stays in power, the more government requires loans to “improve” the economy. However, the attracted loans, which have already turned into a huge loan burden, do not yield any real benefit to ordinary Armenians.  

The state debt of Armenia in late June 2016 made up $5,345 billion, according to official Armenian statistics.  Hence, it increased by 5.3 percent from the beginning of the year. Meanwhile, the total national debt of Armenia reached $4,470 billion by the end of June, increasing by $39.3 million compared to the previous month.

The office of National Statistics predicts that the size of the national debt will amount to $5,569 billion by the end of this year, of which 86.6 percent will make up the external debt.

But the attracted loans did not saved the economy, as the declining economic indicators lead to higher prices and unemployment in Armenia, as well as to the depreciation of the Armenian dram. Therefore, Armenians try by any means leave the country to find a better place to live.

It seems like the current economic crisis in Armenia will further be accompanied by even more demographic outflow from the country.

The official statistics show that 250,000 people left Armenia in 2008-2014, while the non-official data is 1.5 million. It is not surprising that the global demographers have included Armenia in the list of states that suffer from the “elderly crisis” because of a significant decrease in the proportion of youth in the total population of the country.

These are just a tiny part of all problems Armenians face nowadays, while the main responsibility here falls to the Armenian government, particularly President Serzh Sargsyan and his corrupt circle.

No wonder that 71 percent of Armenian citizens over 35 feel that the quality of life was significantly higher in the Soviet Armenia. These are the results of a survey conducted by Sputnik news agency among the residents of the former USSR countries.

But the most surprising is that Armenians who were born after the collapse of the Soviet Union also want to return to old days. Thus, only 48 percent of young Armenians believe that now their life is better. 47 percent of youth think that it was much better in the Soviet Union.

Apparently, the eight years of Sargsyan’s rule even more aggravated the situation in the country, making Armenian population come to such a conclusion and lose any faith in their corrupt and useless government.