Azernews.Az

By Laman Sadigova

The economic situation in Armenia is ringing alarm amid decreasing non-cash transfer to individuals in the country.

The amount of non-cash transfers to individuals in Armenia hardly exceeded the bar of $1 billion in the period from January to October of 2015.

This impressive number loses its charm when compared with previous transfers and taking into account the fact that Armenia is passing through the unemployment crisis.

The decline in external transfers was no less spectacular - $478.5 million or 32.3 percent. Thus, Armenian citizens received almost half a billion dollars less than a year ago from abroad. This collapse can be associated with a decline in the "Russian" transfers - almost $471.8 million.

The transfers from Russia had negative dynamic due to two main factors. Firstly, this year the rules of entry and stay in the country have been tightened. Secondly, the crisis in the Russian economy dealt a double blow for migrant workers from Armenia – it became more difficult to find a job but they still stay in Russia because their motherland can offer them only crisis and hunger. In most cases, migration seems the only way to survive the harsh Armenian realities.

Reducing the solvency of the population due to decreased inflows of transfers has already led to negative consequences for the weak Armenian economy.

Adverse trends are also observed in the imports of goods. Under the influence of these factors, the inflow of taxes (especially VAT) to the Armenia’s state budget has dried up considerably.

Against the backdrop of the crisis in every sphere, the country continues to take out multi-million-dollar loans while having no ability to “close” them. Part of the funds are spent on the repayment and servicing of previous debts, part of it is allocated to impossible projects, and the largest part is stolen.

The domestic debt has also increased -- it was 6 percent in 2015 but will be 6.6 percent in 2016.

All in all, while the country and its citizens are suffocating from the lack of money, trying to escape in the harsh Armenian realities, the country’s government spend great amount of money to implement useless constitutional amendments. Now, after the country is changing its structure from presidential to parliament, the Armenians have no idea how these changes can help them to survive.

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