No Inflation Issues for the Next Five Years: Nikol Pashinyan

Armenia will not seek to extend deadlines. Today, during a press conference held in Vanadzor, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan made this statement regarding the privileges that will be abolished from January 2020 concerning goods imported into Armenia from third countries.

“I have said since my opposition days that the policy of continuously postponing is not very correct. We need to fix our economic structures, acknowledge our capabilities, and work on our development thanks to our efficiency,” he noted.

Referring to price increases in this context, Pashinyan stated that in many cases, they have already been overcome due to the elimination of monopolies. “The removal of monopolies results in effects that, under the old system, required reducing duties to achieve. We are making such changes in the tax legislation to create more favorable conditions for our entrepreneurs. In our opinion, all this will counterbalance the situation,” said Nikol Pashinyan.

The Prime Minister noted that inflation occurs when people panic and make purchases thinking that their money will lose value. According to him, the current situation shows that the people of Armenia trust the government. “Today, the people have such confidence in the government that there will be no risks in the coming five years, and this helps maintain inflation at a low level. Last September, there was a lot of noise and outcry about inflation; they said it was the end, it was over, but the government quickly resolved that issue. We increased the quantity of goods imported without customs clearance for several months, and all inflationary risks were immediately neutralized. True, new restrictions from the EAEU came in after that, but the inflation issue is not only resolved now but there are no inflation issues for the next five years,” Pashinyan concluded.