HALF OF ARMENIA LIVES IN POVERTY, SAYS ARF DEPUTY

Asbarez
Nov 18th, 2009

ARF Member of Parliament Artsvik Minasyan

YEREVAN (News.am)-Half of Armenia’s population lives in abject poverty,
despite a recent report from the World Bank detailing a much lower
figure, according to Artsvik Minasyan, a member of the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation’s faction in parliament.

Earlier this week the World Bank released a report partly based on
government statistics that estimated the proportion of Armenians
living below the official poverty line had increased for the first
time in over a decade as a result of the ongoing economic recession.

The report, which detailed a nearly 7 percent increase from last year,
put the figure at 28.4 percent in the second quarter of this year.

In an interview with News.am published Wednesday, Minasyan disputed the
figure, saying "the number of poor people is much higher" in Armenia.

The parliament deputy explained that if the minimum social security
allowance provided by the government were not considered, the poverty
level in the country would be 50 percent.

Minasyan pointed to the possibility of worsening social tensions and
a spike in homelessness as reasons for the government to revamp its
anti-crisis program and increase social spending to help the poor.

"Social tension will grow, and more homeless people and beggars will
appear in the streets," Minasyan said, warning of the consequences
if nothing is done by the government to address the crisis.

According to Minasyan, the segment of society living below the poverty
line includes migrants who failed to find jobs, as well as small
businessmen, who came under administrative pressure and went bankrupt,
as well as employees, whose wages are insufficient for their families.

"I think that most of the 100,000 citizens below the poverty line
are women, as their employment problem has not been resolved,"
Minasyan said.

The Armenian Government earlier this year announced what Minasyan
described as a "defective" anti-crisis program to address the
consequences of the financial meltdown in Armenia.

The government, however, failed to properly implement the program,
he noted, explaining that the government’s supported of entrenched
oligarchic interests over consumers contributed to its inability to
ensure micro and macro economic stability.