Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse
IRAN, ARMENIA SIGN BIG ELECTRICITY CONTRACT
Mehr News Agency - Iran
Aug 12 2015
TEHRAN, Aug. 12 (MNA) - Iran and Armenia inked the contract of
constructing the third line of electricity transmission to Armenia
today.
Having a worth of over 107 million euros, the strategic contract which
is scheduled to be completed in 24 months was signed between Iran's
SUNIR and Armenia Hai Wan and is expected to increase electricity
exchanges more than three times.
Providing the equipment, construction, installation, and launching of
this 275-long electricity line is planned to be operated by Iranian
contractor.
About 70 percent of the financial resource of this project is supported
by Export Development Bank of Iran, while the rest is provided by
Iran Power & Water Equipment and Services Export Company (SUNIR).
The project, further, connects Iran's electricity network to that of
Georgia and Russia which makes it possible for Iran to generate and
transit electricity to Caucasus countries .
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Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse
@Mher
You were in western Armenia. Would really like to hear your thoughts and experience. Who you met and their attitude . Any acknowledgment on Armenian disappearance and how that group (kurd/turk) is there now in over 3,000 villages?
And , did you meet any (hidden souls)?
Thanks in advance.Leave a comment:
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Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse
This is why the Chinese based Eurasian bank is a good option for us. I think this railroad project should be done using this source of finance. Making Armenia into a transit hub will pay big economically but will also paste a bullseye on us as world powers fight to control such transit hubs.Originally posted by Mher View PostArmenia’s total public debt grows by 5.4% to over $4.6 billion
YEREVAN, July 31. / ARKA /. Armenia’s total public debt at the end of June 2015 stood at $4.680.2 billion, an increase of 5.4% from the beginning of the year, according to the latest numbers, released today by the National Statistical Service (NSS). It said the public debt grew by 1% in June alone.
The nation’s external debt at the end of the first half amounted to $3.986.1 billion, an increase of 0.99% from the May. About $3.556.2 billion of the external debt was owed by the government, which rose by 1.24%. The Central Bank’s external debt stood at $429.9 million.
The domestic debt was worth $694.1 million, an increase of 1.6%.. Of that amount about $609.9 million were owed by the government to resident buyers of bonds. The debt in foreign currency stood at $80.1 million. Also $2 million were owed as loans and borrowings and another $2 million as domestic guarantees.
I saw a lot of posts over the past week or so about government debt, and I didn't get a chance to respond because I was in Western Armenia with very subpar internet. The level of debt in Armenia is still in a manageable range, and the government has experience dealing with this from the previous crises. I'm actually surprised because I thought the overall increase in debt would have been larger after the first six months given the poor economic indications that are coming out.
It is indeed disappointing to see it grow given the work it took to get it down form 2010-13, but it's a necessary step that is a direct result of the economic situation in the region. Without the stimulus the country would be in a place of much more significant instability. But it's obvious you can't keep borrowing to make up for the shortfall, so the overall economic situation needs to improve quickly.
Also as far as borrowing for infrastructure, I know it's never great to be indebted to these groups like the WB or IMF, but these are crucial projects that Armenia desperate need, which can dramatically alter the economic landscape of the country once they are completed. Anyway, we don't have to worry about further borrowing. These organization aren't giving loans at the moment for things like the Southern Armenia railway, until Armenia is finished paying for some of the other infrastructureLeave a comment:
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Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse
Armenia’s total public debt grows by 5.4% to over $4.6 billion
YEREVAN, July 31. / ARKA /. Armenia’s total public debt at the end of June 2015 stood at $4.680.2 billion, an increase of 5.4% from the beginning of the year, according to the latest numbers, released today by the National Statistical Service (NSS). It said the public debt grew by 1% in June alone.
The nation’s external debt at the end of the first half amounted to $3.986.1 billion, an increase of 0.99% from the May. About $3.556.2 billion of the external debt was owed by the government, which rose by 1.24%. The Central Bank’s external debt stood at $429.9 million.
The domestic debt was worth $694.1 million, an increase of 1.6%.. Of that amount about $609.9 million were owed by the government to resident buyers of bonds. The debt in foreign currency stood at $80.1 million. Also $2 million were owed as loans and borrowings and another $2 million as domestic guarantees.
I saw a lot of posts over the past week or so about government debt, and I didn't get a chance to respond because I was in Western Armenia with very subpar internet. The level of debt in Armenia is still in a manageable range, and the government has experience dealing with this from the previous crises. I'm actually surprised because I thought the overall increase in debt would have been larger after the first six months given the poor economic indications that are coming out.
It is indeed disappointing to see it grow given the work it took to get it down form 2010-13, but it's a necessary step that is a direct result of the economic situation in the region. Without the stimulus the country would be in a place of much more significant instability. But it's obvious you can't keep borrowing to make up for the shortfall, so the overall economic situation needs to improve quickly.
Also as far as borrowing for infrastructure, I know it's never great to be indebted to these groups like the WB or IMF, but these are crucial projects that Armenia desperate need, which can dramatically alter the economic landscape of the country once they are completed. Anyway, we don't have to worry about further borrowing. These organization aren't giving loans at the moment for things like the Southern Armenia railway, until Armenia is finished paying for some of the other infrastructureLeave a comment:
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Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse
Armenian Trade In First Decline After 2009 Recession
Armenia -- Customs office in Bagratashen on the Armenian-Georgian border, undated
Sargis Harutyunyan
Հրապարակված է՝ 04.08.2015
Armenian foreign trade shrank by a fifth in the first half of 2015, the latest data released by the country’s National Statistical Service shows. This is the first time Armenia’s trade falls after the 2009 recession when its economy declined by more than 14 percent.
In the mentioned period Armenia’s trade with other countries, including Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus, with which it formed the Eurasian Economic Union at the beginning of this year, totaled $2.186 billion, which is by 20.6 percent less than in January-June 2014.
When Armenia’s economy went into recession in 2009 the foreign trade decline in the first half of the year was 31.5 percent compared with the same period of 2008.
Moreover, the statistics also shows that for the first time since the 2009 crisis domestic trade in Armenia also fell this year.In January-June 2015, the decline was 5.1 percent compared with the same period in 2014.
The Armenian government collected by 13.5 percent less taxes (just over $1 billion) during the period under review than in the corresponding period last year. It is also the biggest decline since the 2009 crisis.
Finally, remittances wired to Armenia by individuals, which is also a crucial for the Armenian economy, showed a further decline by 28.4 percent (some $682 million) as compared with January-June 2014. This decrease is also the biggest since 2009.
Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamian, meanwhile, struck an optimistic note about the prospects of economic growth this year when he talked to media while visiting Armenia’s second largest city of Gyumri last weekend.
Abrahamian, in particular, said that overall the economy expanded by 4.5 percent in January-June and that it showed growth in all sectors except for commodity turnover. He also stressed that Armenia’s economy was on track to expand by 4.1 percent in 2015, which is the government’s target for the year.
At the same time, the head of the Armenian government downplayed the forecasts of leading international financial institutions that predict considerably lower growth or no growth at all for the Armenian economy in 2015. Abrahamian also reiterated that Armenia’s economy will be more active in the second half of the year.
Economist Vahagn Khachatrian, who is affiliated with the opposition Armenian National Congress party, is, however, skeptical about government assurances on the economic growth prospects. He says there are a number of key indicators that show the true state of the country’s economy. The first indicator, according to him, is the decline in the collection of taxes. “Another such indicator is the real estate market, and if we summarize the data for the same first six months, we shall see that there is also a decline in the number of transactions and reduced prices in dollars by 15 percent per square meter [of property],” Khachatrian said.
“The decrease in trade, private remittances is also crucial. And all this means that Armenia’s economy is in crisis,” the pro-opposition economist concluded.
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Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse
TOURISM INDUSTRY: NUMBERS OF VISITORS RISE, CHALLENGES REMAIN
SOCIETY | 30.07.15 | 10:49
NAZIK ARMENAKYAN
ArmeniaNow
By SARA KHOJOYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter
While Armenia is seeking in the next two decades to triple the number
of tourists it hosts, opening new hotels for the purpose, the country's
tourism industry still faces a lot of challenges, experts say.
Consumers Association Chairman Armen Poghosyan argues that at some
hotels in Armenia, for example, people do not get sufficient service.
"Hotels do not provide the full range of services, the number of
complaints does not decrease," he claimed at a press conference
on Wednesday.
Sociologist Aharon Adibekyan added that rural tourism in Armenia faces
more problems. "Many in villages today cannot provide accommodation
to visitors because their guesthouses have no bathrooms, no running
water or washing machines. All this must definitely become available,"
he said.
In Adibekyan's opinion, some peculiar thing, such as food and tourist
programs, need to be offered to attract visitors from abroad.
"Once there was an idea to develop religious tourism in Armenia,
but the project has remained on paper."
Still, statistics shows that the number of holidaymakers in Armenia -
both local and foreign tourists - is growing.
In 2014, as compared to the previous year, the number of foreign
tourists visiting Armenia increased by 11.3 percent to over 1.2
million. The number of internal tourists in the country with a
population of some 3 million people also grew by 28.4 percent -
to some 859,000.
Inbound tourism indicators have been increasing not least due to
Western sanctions imposed against Russia, as the flow of Russian
tourists to Armenia increased. For instance, travel.ru, a Russian
online tourist service, has included Yerevan in the top three
destinations for Russian tourists in the former Soviet Union for the
summer of 2015.
"The Russians do not want to rest where they already were once. And
Armenia attracts tourists by its novelty and delicious food,"
sociologist Adibekyan suggested.
The Armenian government is carrying out numerous projects in order
to ensure tourism industry growth.
Tigran Karapetyan, director of the tourism department of the Armenia
Development Fund, said that their goal is to change the type of tourism
and to use the vast resources that exist in Armenia for that purpose.
"There is a system of tourism, which was formed during the Soviet
years, and as a result of which it was not tourism that brought
social and economic development for the population, but it was just
about meeting the tourist's demand, to show a country in a prosperous
condition, to show its churches, temples and so on. This has resulted
in a situation when the resources that are used mainly for tourism
purposes are located away from populated areas," Karapetyan said,
according to Tert.am.
He also said that a study is being conducted to find out what potential
foreign tourists would be most interested in experiencing in Armenia.
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Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse
Good point there Mher. What Armenia needs is improvement on the macro level. Such improvements can only come with things like massive investment and spending on things like infrastructure and opening borders, establishing trade routes.. We are seeing some investment spending going on but it is important to control the level of debt. I think Armenia should limit further barrowing from the IMF and world bank because of the predatory nature of these institutions and the high levels of debt already owed to them. I think it makes perfect sense to for example to build the Iran-Armenia railroad using the Chinese backed Eurasian bank. China cares about Iran's interests because it relies on it for energy. This railroad therefor serves the interests of Armenia, Iran, China, and quite possibly many other countries thus I think Armenia can and should secure funding for this project and it should do so using sources other then the USA based financial system. Such projects are worth doing because they provide an initial stymulis as they are being built and continue providing economic growth once they are completed. This railroad project in addition to these benefits will also provide Armenia and Iran (and many other countries) with a new trade route as well. I hope this gets done.Originally posted by Mher View PostLeave a comment:
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Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse
Unfortunately even 150,000 AMD, about 330 USD, is not enough to support yourself, let alone a family in Yerevan. But that's the nature of the work. It's low skilled work, that almost anyone can do. And in a country like Armenia, you don't have the luxury of having a large tax base like the US, and paying government low skilled workers above the pay them would receive in the private sector.
The fact is, with a college degree and some basic valuable skills you can expect to start at over $500 USD/month in most careers in Armenia.Leave a comment:
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