Attracting private investments important for having sustainable economic growth – finance minister

In order to carry out an effective social policy in Armenia it’s necessary to ensure a sustainable economic growth, for which an important precondition is to attract private investments, Finance minister Vardan Aramyan told reporters.

“The effective social policy should be one of our priorities. But we need to consider our capacities and understand how we are conducting this policy. If the situation is such that the resources are not enough for drastically increasing the wages and pensions, this is a problem, since in the future, if the economic growth, for instance, is 2%, how we will compensate it?”, Aramyan said.

The minister said that at least 5% sustainable economic growth is necessary for implementing an effective social policy. “In order to ensure a stable growth we need to make investment, especially, private investments”, the minister noted.

He recalled that after 2012 the minimum wage in Armenia increased from 32.500 AMD to 55.000 which is nearly 67% growth. “It would be much better if we later are able to continue this policy, but we need to look at our capacities. We need to consider that the service costs of our debt comprise 10% of our overall expenses, and this is not a small amount. Thus, we need to look at all issues smartly, with a greater focus on socially vulnerable groups, and common restraint and more attention to capital expenditures”, the minister said.