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  • TBILISI: Armenian expert concerned about crisis

    The Messenger , Georgia
    Dec 30 2008



    Armenian expert concerned about crisis

    By Messenger Staff
    Tuesday, December 30

    The Rector of the Russian-Armenian State University, Armen Darbinian,
    thinks that Armenia is not undertaking serious and effective measures
    to combat the effects of the world economic crisis in the country and
    therefore its negative influence will continue in Armenia for a long
    period.

    Darbinian stated that in its first years of independence Armenia was
    conducting a policy of substituting imports with a large local
    production of consumer goods. The next step should therefore have been
    the stimulation of export production, but this did not happen and the
    country continued producing non-export compatible products.

    The country's economic growth was determined by external factors
    mainly, individual transfers into the country reaching the huge total
    of USD 2-5 billion. Consequently the negative balance between export
    and import has reached USD 3 billion.

    Discussing the prospects of the development of the country, Darbinian
    stated that the measures which were intended to stabilize democracy
    and create a market compatible environment have failed. Now the main
    direction of the country's development should be determined: either we
    guarantee a democratic market economy or impose an authoritarian
    market economy. He added that even the second option can bring some
    positive results, as the example of Kazakhstan showed.

    Armenia's former Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian, commenting on the
    current situation in Armenia, has stated that 10% economic growth in
    Armenia was a success but due to the world crisis the most optimistic
    current prognosis suggests growth could be 5% next year, whereas a
    more pessimistic prognosis shows 2% decrease. Oskanian does not
    exclude cutting the budget sometime in the middle of 2009. One of the
    leaders of the Dashnak Tsutsun Party, Armen Rustamian, is against
    developing the Armenian economy by opening the Armenia-Turkey and
    Armenia-Azerbaijan borders at the expense of giving up Karabakh.
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