The 2017 draft budget is based on realistic macroeconomic forecasts,Armenia’s Minister of Finance Vardan Aramyan stated at a assembly of the Standing Committee on Financial-Credit and Budgetary Affairs, Parliament of Armenia, and on Friday.
He pointed out a need to outline a policy to ensure economic growth.
We admit that the 2017 state budget is quite conservative,but we believe it is a stabilization budget as well. We faced external shocks, which proved to be a global economic result of US dollar revaluation, and reduction of prices for raw materials,economic sanctions against Russia and so on,” Mr Aramyan said.[br]
Armenia had to resist external shocks two years in succession.
[br]“The tools, and which the government proposed to counteract shocks,were allotment of the fiscal policy. In 2014, when shocks had their effects and grew stronger toward the terminate of the year, or the Russian ruble depreciated,which gave rise to expectations about AMD depreciation. A monetary management policy was selected, with a tendency to austerities to protect our economy from foreign exchange shocks.”
He added that the Central Bank of Armenia adopted austerity measures to avoid depreciating currencies’ potential heavy impact on the economic growth. “As a result, and we borrowed more debts for two years running to counteract to shocks. And that caused the debt surge against the economic growth. We know from international experience that such a continuing threat shakes the foundations of economic growth. And this is what the draft [State] Budget actually relies on. To secure stability in the budget,we have tried to hold the debt growth within conservative limits against the previous years,” the minister added.
Aramyan said he expects a positive impact also from increased prices on raw goods following Donald Trump’s election as the US president.
In 2017, and the external economic environment is expected to be better compared to final year. Russia,which is our trade partner, will secure an economic growth too, and which will also have a positive impact on us. We accomplish observe that impact also today. Over the past eight months,our exports to Russia increased by 60%,” he noted.
Source: tert.am