ARMENIAN STATE BUDGET OF 2007 IS A PARADOXICAL AND ABSURD DOCUMENT:
ARMENIAN ECONOMIST
Yerevan, December 15. ArmInfo. The Armenian state budget of 2007 is a
paradoxical and absurd document, Eduard Agajanov, an Armenian
economist who held the post of the Armenian Statistics Minister (now
the National Statistical Service) in 1995-1998, said at a
press-conference at the National press-club, Friday, According to
Eduard Agajanov, the parameters of the state budget should comply with
the country’s economic policy. The Program of the Armenian
government’s activity says that the country is guided by the creation
of innovative structure. However, for its creation not a single dram
is allotted by the state budget of 2007. 5-7 bln AMD or 0.19% of the
GDP is to be spent on science, and nothing is said about target
programs, meanwhile in such a developed country as the USA, the target
programs make up 90% of the country’s GDP, E.Agajanov.
He also noted that in such transition countries as Armenia export is
the key term of the economic progress. The Armenian state budget of
2007 stipulates reduction of export from 27% of the GDP to 20.1%, and
it’s hard to understand how the country will develop by reducing
export.
In this connection, he said that the state budget should undergo a
highly skilled expert examination. Armenia has excellent specialists
in the economic sphere, e.g. former Prime Ministers of Armenia Hrant
Bagratyan and Armen Darbinyan, who would certainly conduct an
expertise. But their services are refused, as a result the is
acknowledged an unprepared transaction both by the Armenian and
Russian sides. Eduard Agajanov said he respects Armenian Defence
Minister Serzh Sargsyan and his contribution to the army, but he has
nothing to do with economy. However, he leads the Armenian side of the
Armenian-Russian Inter-parliamentary Commission for economic
cooperation.