DEVALUATION SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED EARLIER, SAYS ARF REP.
Yerkir
Tuesday March 3, 2009
YEREVAN (Yerkir, Yerkir Media)–The devaluation of the Armenian
currency should have happened earlier and gradually, said Armenian
Revolutionary Federation parliamentary bloc member and economist
Ara Nranyan.
He said at this juncture the Central Bank had no other choice by to
devalue the dram.
"Wouldn’t it have made more sense that we took this step a while ago
gradually?" asked Nranyan adding that the current sudden devaluation
will create obstacles for businesses.
At a press briefing Tuesday, Nranyan discussed Tuesday’s decision to
devalue the dram and other issues related to the effects of the global
economic crisis on Armenia. He expressed opposition to the proposed
tax increases on imported raw materials for domestic production and
output, which he said would slow production and would impact prices
for locally produced goods.
Nranyan said local production and exports should be encouraged and
the government should provide incentives for local production of
goods in order to balance prices in these economic conditions.
Nranyan noted that the ARF had recently met with Prime Minister
Tigran Sargsyan and representatives of his economic team to discuss
his party’s proposal for the economy, adding that the ARF has always
advocated support for local production and encouraged exports of
locally-produced goods and services.=0 D
"If these steps were undertaken three to four years ago, then the
impact of the economic crisis would have been less," said Nranyan who
acknowledged that certain steps to correct the situation are being
undertaken but it may be too late.
Nranyan said that the artificial inflation of the dram has primarily
hurt local production and only importers have benefited from it.
The ARF parliament member also touched on a recent report by the
World Bank, which predicted zero economic growth in Armenia for 2009
and government estimates that place growth at three to four percent.
He said the current economic crisis has demonstrated that the
government’s continued touting of a double-digit economic growth
was baseless, at best, adding that even if there is slight growth it
would be better if it is stable rather than "registering self-serving
economic growth."