EX-SPEAKER ALLEGES ARMENIAN CURRENCY MANIPULATION
By Emil Danielyan
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Oct 4 2006
Former parliament speaker Artur Baghdasarian launched a blistering
attack on the Armenian authorities late Tuesday, adding his voice
to opposition allegations that they are artificially boosting the
national currency for personal gain.
Risking more accusations of populism, he also announced that his
Orinats Yerkir party, which was forced out of the governing coalition
last spring, will push for a major reduction of key utility fees.
"Elementary calculations show that we are dealing with a direct
embezzlement of $200 million," Baghdasarian charged in a speech in
parliament, referring to a further surge in the value of the Armenian
dram registered in the last six months. He claimed, without naming
names, that the authorities have engineered the dram’s appreciation
to pocket a large part of hundreds of millions of dollars in cash
remittances sent home by Armenians working abroad.
The Armenian Central Bank and the government strongly deny such
accusations, which have been voiced by opposition leaders and other
government critics ever since the dram began its dramatic rise in
December 2003. The Armenian currency has since gained more than 40
percent in value against the dollar, hurting local manufacturers and
scores of people dependent on the dollar remittances.
The authorities in Yerevan, backed by the International Monetary Fund
and the World Bank, insist that the exchange rate fluctuation is the
result of Armenia’s double-digit economic growth and a substantial
increase in the volume of wire transfers from Russia, Europe and
the United States. The transfers are expected to total at least $1.5
billion dollars this year.
Making his first appearance in the National Assembly since his
resignation in May, Baghdasarian claimed that if the dram’s exchange
was indeed market-based, the basic utility and consumer prices in
Armenia would have fallen by now. "The prices of gas, electricity and
water remain the same, even though the dollar is falling," he said,
arguing that Armenia imports the bulk of its energy resources.
Baghdasarian added that Orinats Yerkir will seek a Constitutional
Court ruling allowing Armenian citizens to challenge utility prices
set by state regulators in court. Under an existing Armenian law,
decisions taken by the Public Service Regulatory Commission can not
be overturned by local courts.
Baghdasarian and other opposition leaders say the law is
unconstitutional.
Baghdasarian’s initiative seems heralds the start of Orinats Yerkir’s
preparations for next year’s parliamentary elections. The ambitious
ex-speaker has long been accused of resorting to populism to win
votes and his latest comments will likely prompt more such accusations.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
