ARMENIAN AUTHORITIES SHOULD SPEED UP REFORMS TO CAPACITATE COUNTRY TO RESIST CRISIS
ARKA
Nov 21, 2008
YEREVAN, November 21. /ARKA/. Armenia is now on the edge of economic
crisis, Vartan Oskanian, former Armenian foreign minister, said
Thursday in an interview with Shant TV Channel.
He thinks it is necessary to speed up reforms to enable the country
to resist the crisis.
"It is necessary to create equal competition conditions, eliminate
monopoly and implement substantial tax reforms to give an impetus to
our economy amid crisis", he said.
Oskanian welcomes Armenian Prime Minister’s recent speech in National
Assembly. He said that the premier’s previous statements that the
crisis won’t impact the country’s economy aroused his concern.
"The first important and positive step is realization of inevitability
of the crisis", the former minister said in his televised interview.
He thinks that the reforms targeting small and mid-scale business
should be clearly defined.
Oskanyan also thinks that economic reforms will be more effective,
if political parties and civil society support them, but no signs of
it are seen now.
"It will be difficult for the president to implement second-breed
reforms and find progressive solutions without support from the civil
society, political forces, including the opposition", he said.