Minister speaks about gas price and Armenia's external debt (video)
Armenian Minister of Artsvik Minasyan does not know how much gas prices will be lowered for Armenian population. During today’s parliamentary briefings Mr Minasyan commented on a statement made by opposition lawmaker Hrant Bagratyan who said that after the upcoming visit of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev gas and petrol prices will go down by 10 drams for Armenian households. “"I cannot say anything instead of the Russian Prime Minister, especially when negotiations have not started yet,” Mr Minasyan said. Asked whether he sees any possibility for the reduction of gas and petrol prices, the Armenian official said, “There is always a possibility. We should consider whether it is realistic or not. Anyway, the Armenian government is doing everything possible to ensure reduction of prices of these basic commodities and also the cost of products and services made in Armenia, making them more competitive in the market. The role of technological innovations is also important in this context for enhancing productivity in the country. We have a problem with productivity which is not advantageous for us.” According to the latest report of the National Statistics Service, the country’s external debt totals AMD 5 billion 120 million: it has increased by $34 million US in two months. In addition, the taxes collected in the first two months of 2016, were 2 per cent (AMD 3 billion) less that the taxes collected in same period of 2015. Artsvik Minasyan advises everyone to view everything in the light of position developments. “The question should be asked the following way: how is the money spent? We should boost efficiency and productivity and consider the gross debt as well. We need to develop capital markets, to develop mechanisms that will replace debt by shares in order to alleviate the burden of the economy," he said.
