The "Fact" daily writes:
"It's been a pre-election year in 2026. As we could have predicted, financial grounds for populist manifestations are represented in the 2026 state budget project, "said Tadjos Avetisyan, a member of the NA" Armenia "faction, when we suggest that the draft budget of the coming year from its point of view.
He specifies his point of view. "It's about the asphalting work under the name of capital expenditures, they first show the public, as if they are doing it, the second, the works are enriched with the economic entities that stand for the authorities of the day. The government's program has been the last year of the government's program at all, which relate to pensions, minimum wage and insecurity, and poverty benefits.
These promises remained imperfect, which was predictable. In previous years, I have reminded of these promises many times, they were constantly said, there is a time in 2026, we will make our promises. I received such an answer when we presented a project to index the dimensions of pensions and minimum wages with at least inflation. They rejected that, we have promises and, accordingly we will do it. We have put these projects twice in circulation, twice such a reasoning, we have been rejected, we have promised to do our promises, there is time.
The time has ended, the promises did not fulfill, it is impossible not to score it. It is also worrying that the defense budget is being reduced. Allegedly, with the logic of them, and everything is normal, the reduction of defense expenses is its continuation, "said our economic growth. "The average high growth of 2021-25 was conditioned by the external factor. We had a situation in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the external factor led to a short-term economic effect, which we saw and in the form of high economic growth. It is a fact that it was unknown. Very careful in the next year's budget, compared to the previous three years, they have almost twice as low as the budget. On the other hand, in terms of tax revenues, we will increase the load, concentration to small and medium business.
This is also a policy that they have adopted, adding a tax burden here, which, if we look objectively, is problematic, given the growing difficulties in small and medium-sized businesses. Finally, let's talk about the double-digit increase in the state debt, it will grow next year. There will be more than a billion dollars in the next year's budget for state debt, which has a significant share in both income and expenditures, "he said.
It seems that the economy, the state budget will be in poor condition next year. It will have difficulties in accordance with the obligations of citizens. "There is a state debt and there is. After all, we have an emblem, a flag, we are 30 years.
They will be debt, they will make their obligations. They say they will increase pensions since January. This is a primitive Manipul. He promised to make the average pension of at least equal to the minimum consumer basket. Today, the cost of the minimum consumer basket is about 82000 AMD, the average pension is 49,000 drams, the difference is about 33,000 drams. And inflation continues, the basic necessity of goods has been quite intense inflation.
Naturally, the consumer basket will increase. They are just talking about a postpaid, and to increase the average pension for 4,000 drams. There is not even a comparison between 4,000 and 33,000 drams. They make statements, they spread that the pension will rise by 4000 AMD, but do not spread the part of my question that they promised to raise the pension not by 7-8% next year, but about 70 percent. Now the post office makes 10000 drams from 6,000 a month. The half of our retirees use it, the other half does not use it.
On the other hand, this postpaid does not apply, for example, the most important expense direction, that is, on the basic utility bills. We see this as primitive, another populism, trying to cover their not promises, but the public, especially our beneficiaries and retirees, see the real picture in their daily lives, "says the social situation of people. Even for a working man, it is difficult to take care of his daily expenditures. The situation is also worsening in the conditions of growing inflation day by day. "Inflation is multi-member.
Especially for countries with small farms, where the first products and their components are imported, the level of market liberalization is very important. These authorities spoke about the elimination of monopolies. It is obvious that this did not happen. According to various manifestations, the small inflationary external pressure is very fast and expressed in our country.
Take the fuel, liquefied gas market, for the first necessities of the need. Already started in the high price of the dairy market, this is not the whole, it will be chained to other products. The internal factor is unequivocal, it refers to both taxes, and different, from stamps to other restrictions, which represent the consumer's interests. This is also simple populism, the same thing can be done without additional burden and limiting on manufacturers and sellers.
These restrictions lead to additional costs. Who pays for it, we, the public as a consumer. It is also important to register that this high inflationary pressures, which have seen regularly for the previous five years, are still notified today that such a stage will be recording again, only the Central Bank with its financial instruments cannot be issued.
By implementing a tough financial policy, the Central Bank may try to suppress medium inflation in a way, but no matter how much medium inflation is extinguishing, the bank's tool is not enough to prevent the inflation of basic necessities. At the end of the year, the minimum consumer basket was 75,000 DAM, which has risen the minimum cost of one person in the middle of this year, and the average inflation is three times less than that. People are interested in the inflation of basic necessities, the minimum consumer basket. We have a picture when social orientation costs have increased, "said the economist. It is already poor.
"At the end of the year, the basket was 75,000, a single working man who only had to take care of himself with the minimum wage, but now he can't. It turns out that the minimum wage recipient is poor, it gets less than 10% less than one person's minimum basket. Let's not talk about the fact that the same person has a family. If parents work in a four-member family to keep two children with the minimum wage, that family will be considered a family of working poor.
Let me say that their number is not enough, about a quarter of the employees today work with the minimum wage, one quarter of those employees is at least poor.
This government has promised to eliminate extreme poverty, in rural areas, on the contrary, it has almost increased. They promised to halve the average poverty rate, and this level has declined very small compared to 2018, we can say almost the same remained.
When you put all this on one paper, their anti-social face becomes clear, "Tadios Avetisyan concludes.
Lusine Arakelyan
