It Was Hard to Imagine That We Would Have Such Hyper-Inflation, Kerobyan

If we had normal inflation, we would be very close to double-digit growth; it was difficult to imagine that we would have such hyper, enormous inflation. This was stated by the Minister of Economy, Vahan Kerobyan, during an online press conference.

He also presented the motivations behind why he was confident that a double-digit economic growth would be recorded.

“First, I want to remind you that I became minister on November 26, having just returned from the frontline. It seemed to me that I was in a mad city or environment; from my wife to all of my friends were in shock. I can say that everything at the front was much less stressful. In the battlefield, you actually see only what happens in front of you and are very little exposed to the informational flood or tsunami. Naturally, it was necessary to try to pull people out of that negativity because economic growth could only be created through optimism; it was impossible to direct people, businessmen, toward a creative flow if everything was very bad, if everything was very dark,” he said.

Vahan Kerobyan emphasized that he needed, first and foremost, to awaken hope among the people that our country has a future, despite the fact that he himself was also confident that they would definitely overcome the difficult days.

“In this regard, conveying shock optimism could significantly improve the chances of economic recovery, and, in my opinion, this is exactly what happened. Throughout the year, many people approached me and thanked me for being a source of hope for them in a difficult moment. And there were even people who said they were planning to emigrate, and just by hearing my optimistic words, they changed their decision or postponed their decision. Later it became clear that everything was not as bad as it seemed in November 2020,” the minister emphasized.