No comment from the Minister
"I don't reserve myself the right to comment on Robert Kocharyan's statements," said Minister of Finance Tigran Davtyan in response to journalists' request to comment on Robert Kocharyan's latest evaluation of the economy. Let us remind that Davtyan had previously criticized the activities of the current government.
The Minister of Finance and the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs held a joint press conference today to inform that they are doing everything possible to make sure the society doesn't feel the effects of the gas price inflation, as well as the inflation of other products.
The social subsidies will increase by 15 percent starting May 1, 2010 at an average of 3,500 drams, while pensions will increase by 11 percent (average of 2,600 drams) starting November 1.
How will the inflation mitigate the state of socially insecure people? Besides gas inflation, there are other phenomena as well. In response, Tigran Davtyan said: "The government and the Central Bank have instruments with which tehy will try to restrict inflation. In addition, the government is doing everything it can in terms of finances. It would be preferable to see more, but doing more is conditioned by possibilities."
As far as the shifts of the dollar-dram rate, the Finance Minister said: "The exchange rates will be shifting. The main objective of the CB is to make sure there are no sudden shifts and I hope that will be the case."
Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Mkhitar Mnatsakanyan said he was not aware of the figures and that 60% of socially insecure families don't receive subsidies. Let us remind that yesterday the "Consulting Center for Social-Economic Analyses" released a report which states that only 40% of families in extreme poverty have applied for subsidies, while 60% have not applied and are not part of the list.
"That is not our study," said Mkhitar Mnatsakanyan, adding that there truly are people who are left out for some reason, but there are also people "who have found themselves in that system with difficulty."
