Nikol Pashinyan said there is inflation, but that does not mean he struggles to buy bread: Vahan Kerobyan

In March, inflation in our neighbor Turkey reached 16 percent, while in our country it was around 5.6 percent, but that doesn’t mean we are satisfied with the situation. Today, after a government meeting, Economy Minister Vahan Kerobyan stated this during a press briefing with reporters.

“Since we have seen a sharp recovery in the economy over the past 2-3 months, and if we compare this year to 2019, which was the best year for Armenia's economy, then January, February, and March are going better than in comparison to 2019,” he said, adding that according to his calculations, there will be a 7-7.5 percent increase this March compared to March of the previous year.

Addressing inflation, which Nikol Pashinyan spoke about during the government meeting, the minister noted, “I did not hear the Prime Minister say he is upset, he mentioned that there is inflation, but that does not mean he struggles to buy bread. However, we look at this issue from the perspective of the ordinary citizen and feel the pain that ordinary citizens experience when making purchases,” he said.

Vahan Kerobyan mentioned that food prices have risen worldwide. According to him, the closure of the Lars checkpoint is contributing to inflation. “We are currently working on creating alternatives so that Lars never closes again,” he said, adding that he does not mean Azerbaijan, but rather creating other alternatives, although he did not elaborate further.