OYP CONSIDERS DRAM-DOLLAR EXCHANGE RATE FLUCTUATIONS ARTIFICIAL AND
CONDEMNS AUTHORITIES’ POLICY IN THIS SPHERE
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 1, NOYAN TAPAN. The Orinats Yerkir (Country of Law)
party Political Council made a statement in which it expressed deep
anxiety on the occasion of the dram-dollar exchange rate fluctuations
in the last period of time as well as mass closing of currency
exchanges in Armenia. According to the party, because of closing only
in Yerevan 90 currency exchanges during the last period of time, not
only small and medium-sized entreprenuers working in this sphere were
delivered a blow, by losing living resources, but also a goal is
pursued to centralize activity of this sphere, controlling just by it
dram and foreign currency in an artificial way. Againg raising an
alarm relating to "artificial" fluctuations of the exchange rate, the
party mentions as a fact, that "in an organized way, some groups,
getting superprofits of millions of dollars, damage not only people
engaged in small and medium-sized business, but also our people which
annually gets assistance of more than a billion of dollars from abroad
only by the means of bank system, and the dollar-dram sharp
fluctuations directly deliver a blow to pocket of hundreds of
thousands people." The OYP Political Council also emphasizes that
studies of foreign currency rate of Russia, Georgia and other
countries show that only Armenia arrests one’s attention for such a
"preposterous" indexes of sharp fluctuation of the currency exchange
rate. At the same time, as much it is strange, in conditions of
stabilizing dram, prices for goods imported by dollar either do not
reduce and even continue to grow. Prices for food grew more than 8%
only during the last one month. Prices for petrol, diesel fuel, gas,
many goods of first necessity continue to incessantly grow in similar
conditions of fall of dollar exchanhe rate (for example, sugar – 36 %,
petrol, diesel fuel – 10%, meat products, dairy produce – in average
20%), "becoming a source of superprofit for some organized groupings."
Orinats Yerkir "condemns the authorities’ irresponsible policy in the
sphere and calls to take concrete steps to guarantee stable
monetary-credit policy and to improve the situation."