ACCORDING TO PRIME MINISTER, NEW IDEAS NECESSARY TO REGULATE ECONOMY
Noyan Tapan
F eb 23, 2009
TSAKHKADZOR, FEBRUARY 23, NOYAN TAPAN. "Kamurj 2009" ("Bridge 2009")
international economic forum took place in Tsakhkadzor on February
21-23.
The 6th forum was entitled "The Prospects of International Economic
Cooperation. Problems and Solutions". The RA prime minister Tigran
Sargsyan, the minister of economy Nerses Yeritsian, the minister of
finance Tigran Davtian, ambassadors accredited to Armenia, as well as
about 300 businessmen from Russia, Iran, Bulgaria and other countries
took part in the event.
T. Sargsyan said that what is going on today in the world is considered
as a chaos so new ideas are necessary to regulate the economy. The
job cuts, freezing of construction, worsening of the social conditions
of citizens are worrying. In his opinion, remittances sent to Armenia
will also show a tendency to decline as a result of the crisis.
The prime minister underlined that the first positive fact for
Armenia is stabilization of macroeconomy. "We can state once again
that our banks have no problems with capitalization and liquidity
which means that this year we should also use this advantage and
allocate additional financial resources to this system," he said. In
his words, the banking system should be used to reduce the negative
impact of the global crisis.
He pointed out the necessity to use the opportunities created by the
crisis and eliminate the shortcomings. He announced that they applied
to Russia, international organizations with the request to provide new
credits to Armenia. New big regional projects will be implemented soon,
including the project of the new nuclear power plant’s construction,
which is of both economic and political significance. "Both our
strategic partners and neighbors who want to take part in this project
are interested in it. We are interested in Russia’s and Turkey’s
participation in it. We are open to negotiations," T. Sargsyan stated.
As regards the Diaspora, the prime minister noted that everything
possible should be done to use its great potential. "We have a task of
creating institutions to unite Armenia and the Diaspora," he noted,
stressing the necessity to identify those advantages which will make
Armenia attractive.
In his words, the global crisis has had a negative impact on the
economy of any country, even any remote village, and the problem is how
much each country will be able to overcome the negative consequences
of the crisis.
"Our aim is that these temporary difficulties will allow us to correct
the mistakes of the previous years, identify our strengths and take
measures so that the society and business will be able to benefit
from the crisis," T. Sargsyan said.
According to him, the monetary policy and the tax and budgetary one
should be balanced, and the major goal should be ensuring macroeconomic
stability, which is a favorable condition for sustainable macroeconomic
growth. The prime minister said that an agreement on allocation of a
525 million dollar credit was reached with the World Bank. Efficient
cooperation has been established with the Asian Development Bank as
well. Special attention will be paid to the crediting of small and
medium business, and money provided by the EBRD will be mainly spent
on the private sector’s assistance. "We should also receive credit
resources from Russia and use them to promote economic growth,"
the prime minister stated.
T. Sargsyan informed those present that the All-Armenian Bank will
start operating this year. State investments will make 20 billion
drams (about 65.5 mln USD) in the bank’s capital. Besides, the bank
can attract financial resources from other sources, including the
private sector.