Armenia Needs Prime Minister, Not Banker

Dwelling on the program of the government, Vartan Oskanian stated that PM Tigran Sargsyan, who used to be the head of the Central Bank cannot rid of the monetarist, banker thinking.

This is true, and Tigran Sargsyan has turned the state budget to banking capital trying to have it generate profit, forgetting that the state is not a commercial entity and it is not supposed to generate profit. The whole profit should serve the social needs of the population. Moreover, profit should not be generated by boosting poverty.

People with a banker's thinking have difficulty to understand the social idea underlying the state. They do not provide business subsidy, preferring loans with high interest rates. And these people should not necessarily work for their own pocket, they often pay taxes but for the so-called banking excitement, not for social welfare.

This is not Tigran Sargsyan’s trouble. He is just one of the managers who turned the country to a huge financial system. This system is already suffering crisis since the main principle has been violated. The state cannot become rich at the expense of its citizens. The state is created to ensure welfare and security of citizens, and it therefore delegates commercial competences to state bodies.

We can see the social trend in other countries, and elections in Greece and France are the proof of it. Armenia should also define priorities. What do we need – a wealthy state with poor people or planning of income and expenditure proceeding from the requirements of citizens?

It is wrong to announce to support to farmers and set an 8.5% rate. It is wrong to fill the budget at the expense of fining businessmen which sends them bankrupt. The budget is not worth if someone is forced to close down their business and leave the country because of it. Let alone the large amount of means which go to the officials’ pockets instead of the budget.

Armenia should review the philosophy of the government's economic policy. It is prestigious and progressive to be part of the world banking system and the European family, but we should not forget that the same European countries first ensure a general middle social level, and only after that increase state business and income. Here, the state gets profit, while the social level, even the minimum, is not ensured.