168.am writes: Today’s state officials, when they first came to power, declared that the results of economic growth should be distributed equally among all groups of society.
From January 1, the salary of the president of the republic will increase by 341 thousand drams, that of the prime minister – by 324 thousand, and the chairman of the National Assembly – by 307 thousand. The minister’s salary will increase by almost 205 thousand, and the deputy’s salary by 171 thousand. And this is without the well-known bonuses and bonuses. There will be officials who will receive up to 2 million, maybe even more salary and bonuses. The salaries of others and especially those occupying high positions will also increase. Several dozen times more than the 3,000-dram increase in pension and benefits or the 7,000-dram increase in the minimum wage, which is considered a great benefit for the disadvantaged social sector.
However, life showed that it was also a deception. the citizen was left with an empty pocket, and those who came to power from the street managed to get rich and accumulate serious assets in a short time, they became the owners of expensive apartments and cars, they can afford great luxuries, they spend the state’s money as they want, they divide themselves and among his own. At the same time, society continues to get poorer. Even the official statistics cannot hide that the picture of poverty in our country is worse now than before these people came to power.
It will be worse in the future, as the results of economic growth remain elusive for many. The social policy implemented by the authorities and the disproportionate distribution of income also contribute to this. Despite the deepening of social polarization, the authorities give priority to the rapid increase of their incomes, rather than to the poor groups of society. Isn’t it clear that such disproportionate increases will deepen the polarization of society? Especially, it is done in conditions of such high inflation. The incomes of the social sector are increased by a few thousand drams, when the real impact of inflation is many times more than that. We are talking about inflation from before, which the authorities did not consider appropriate to compensate, at least by indexing social payments.
But the impact of inflation will not be limited only to previous years. It will be preserved this year as well. And those people will continue to become poor. The small social increases that have been made will be neutralized as a result of high inflation from the very beginning of the year. Under those conditions, they would have increased pensions and allowances at least from the beginning of the year, they decided to do it from the second half of the year. Their salaries, which are increased by hundreds of thousands, are increased from January 1, and pensions and allowances from July 1. Here, too, they decided to make “savings” at the expense of the poorest part of society, so that their salaries, bonuses and bonuses are not affected. This is how the results of economic growth are distributed. to them several dozen times more than to those who need this money the most.
But this is the basis of the social policy implemented by the authorities. They talk about lack of money, but they can afford any luxury. In order to make a difference in the eyes of the public, they allegedly reduced the bonuses, but in reality, they did not reduce anything, but they also increased the salaries and, as always, on the principle of many, more, few, less. What do they spend money on, when there are much more important problems? And not only in the social sector. For many sections of society, these small increases will not solve any problem. Again price increases are expected in a number of product markets. They will be the result of the legislative changes made by the authorities, which consistently lead to annual price increases of some products.
From the beginning of the year, as in previous years, the tax burden on sub-excise goods will automatically increase, sometimes quite sharply: drinks, cigarettes, fuel, etc. Let’s say: the excise tax on vodka will become 3430 AMD from 2640 AMD per 1 liter. It will increase by 790 drams or almost 30 percent. The excise tax on 1000 cigarettes will become 14.6 thousand drams from 12.7 thousand drams. These are inflations dictated neither from the domestic economy nor from outside. they are imposed by the tax policy implemented by the authorities. But, of course, the price increases will not end there. They will be both from the outside and from the inside.
Inflationary pressures may increase especially in connection with the weakening of the national currency. It is known that the dram strengthened not as a result of the developments of our economy, but as a result of a large amount of foreign currency. And if these flows stop or decrease this year, the dram will begin to weaken with the same success. Consumers know well what impact the devaluation of the national currency has on inflation. They faced such situations more than once. While a strengthening usually does not lead to a decrease in prices, a weakening is very quickly expressed in the form of a price increase. The probability that the inflation dictated by the exchange rates may become active this year is quite high. And in that case, the small supplements that the authorities feed the society will be neutralized even faster. At the expense of state funds, their salaries are increased by hundreds of thousands, and those of the socially disadvantaged sector by several thousand drams. Pensions and allowances were increased by 3,000 in order to attract attention
From January 1, the salary of the president of the republic will increase by 341 thousand drams, that of the prime minister – by 324 thousand, and the chairman of the National Assembly – by 307 thousand. The minister’s salary will increase by almost 205 thousand, and the deputy’s salary by 171 thousand. And this is without the well-known bonuses and bonuses. There will be officials who will receive up to 2 million, maybe even more salary and bonuses. The salaries of others and especially those occupying high positions will also increase. Several dozen times more than the 3,000-dram increase in pension and benefits or the 7,000-dram increase in the minimum wage, which is considered a great benefit for the disadvantaged social sector.