Gagrule.net

Gagrule.net News, Views, Interviews worldwide

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • GagruleLive
  • Armenia profile

No currency crisis in Armenia similar to Georgia’s, Azerbaijan’s – economist

December 18, 2016 By administrator

In an interview with Tert.am, economist Ashot Khurshudyan explained why Armenia is the only regional country without a currency crisis.

Mr Khurshudyan, the national currencies of Azerbaijan and Georgia are rapidly depreciating. Specifically, the Georgian lari has depreciated by around 60-65 percent, whereas we do not see a similar situation in Armenia.

Let us begin with the manat. Azerbaijan attempted to reserve for about three months, but failed. In Azerbaijan’s case, the reason is oil export and the aftermath of, so to say, a wrong oil policy. As a result, Azerbaijan has been swept into a vortex. And I do not think they will be able to get out of this situation. Bankrupt banks cannot pay deposits back. And the situation is obviously grave there. Georgia has been able to attract foreign funds and reduce consumption. And Georgia’s imports remained high, about US $6bn, (while Armenia’s imports have halved due to the population’s austerity), and lack of USD incomes will one day cause an outburst. Georgia tried to conceal the fact by implementing a Property against Debt program worth around US $1bn, while Armenia was once criticized over a similar program. That is, economic entities could not repay their loans. And they are now trying to improve the situation with Europe’s’ help, but they have not yet been able to. I can tell you one of the most important indicators: Georgia’s government reserve – foreign reserves/imports ratio – is for three months. In our case, it is a little more than five months because we have reduced consumption. And, to an extent, we have adjusted our imports to our incomes, which is the reason we are not faced with a currency crisis. But Georgia has two solutions: either people radically reduce their consumption, which is extremely difficult in terms of behavior – and radical measures should have been taken in proper time – or Georgia should allow further lari depreciation. But, as far as I know, Georgia has opted for a third way: borrowing huge funds from Europe, which is kind of blackmail in the context of their Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) agreement with Europe. As if they were saying to Europe: “Give us several billion for us to get out of this disgraceful situation.”
I cannot say which way Georgia will favor, but at least two of them are not good options because the first will cause an economic shock, while the second will cause problems in the future. We are not following the exchange rate and we see a critical situation.

But we, in Armenia, have seen AMD depreciation against the US dollar as well, which made forecasts of a few months come true.

Yes, economy needs it. Yes, let it depreciate. Before 2003, one US dollar cost more than 500 AMD. That is, we have much room to return to the previous level. In the other countries appreciation was not so radical, but in Armenia it was abnormally radical. In Armenia’s case it is economically beneficial. The formula is as follows: if people save their money in terms of Armenian drams, their incomes will be higher than if they saved their money in foreign currency terms to wait for further appreciation of foreign exchange.

And the chairman of the Standing Committee on Economic Affairs, Parliament of Armenia, stated that the Armenian dram is the most stable currency in the region. Do you share his opinion?

Yes, I do. And thanks to our people, who have reduced their consumption this year. And we should be grateful for that. That is, a most interesting policy has been implemented, but our citizens have changed their behavior because if you do not buy your well-being goes down, which is more realistic. We did not deceive ourselves. Without incomes we could not afford luxuries. Has our life been worse? Yes, it has. But was it good living on borrowed money without being able to pay off? And it is a chance we should make a proper use of.

Anush Dashtents

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Armenia, crisis, currency

Report: Kurdish PKK in Turkey to mint own currency

December 28, 2014 By administrator

200660_newsdetailThe Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) is readying to introduce its own currency, including banknotes featuring its imprisoned leader, Turkish media reported on Sunday. 

Turkish intelligence sources earlier warned that the PKK had printed sample banknotes using a photo of its imprisoned leader, Abdullah Öcalan, on the front face of the bills. Turkish media outlets shared a picture of a “Kuruş” banknote featuring Öcalan that was allegedly prepared by the PKK. The PKK expects Öcalan to be the one to introduce the currency at the 12th general assembly of the outlawed group, media reports speculated on Sunday.

Political analysts said the move comes amid intensified PKK efforts to win recognition as a sovereign entity. One interesting detail seen on the banknote allegedly designed by the PKK was that it read “Central Bank of Diyarbakır” in Kurdish on the bill. Diyarbakır is a province of Turkey and the PKK claims sovereignty over it as the future capital of a larger Kurdistan in the region.

Separate sources have earlier claimed that the outlawed group has illegally established its own monitoring and supervisory agencies, such as an independent ministry of finance and court of accounts. The alleged PKK move also follows a similar maneuver from another militant group in the region, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). ISIL announced plans in November to mint its own coins to be used in trade in the regions of Iraq and Syria that it keeps under control.

The PKK currency reports have arrived at a sensitive time. Tensions ran high in the southeastern town of Cizre early on Saturday as armed clashes broke out between members of the Patriotic Revolutionist Youth Movement (YDG-H), an affiliate of the PKK, and Hüda-Par, a Kurdish Sunni Islamist party.

The clashes between the PKK members and supporters of Hüda-Par — which is also known as the Turkish Hezbollah, though it has no affiliation with Lebanon’s Hezbollah — have raised fears of further conflict, while recalling bitter memories of the early 1990s during which the conflict between the two groups claimed the lives of hundreds of people.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: currency, Kurd, PKK, Turkey

The Armenian currency rebounded strongly

December 19, 2014 By administrator

arton106301-480x270The Armenian dram has taken over 16% Thursday the US dollar after weeks of depreciation was accelerated dramatically earlier this week due to the turmoil in the currency market of Russia.

The national currency of Armenia was trading at an average of 476 drams per dollar in the evening, against 553 drams per dollar the previous night. The dram has therefore largely regained its lost value since last weekend. Still, it was 13.5% lower than the greenback early November.

The dram rebounded strongly despite the apparent absence of increased monetary intervention by the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA). ABC said in the afternoon that his last strong money supply of $ 4 million per day has attracted any offer to buy the local commercial banks.

The Governor of the Central Bank, Artur Javadian, insisted on Wednesday that the dram was clearly undervalued and that it would begin appreciate again soon. Javadian blamed his considerable impairment of speculators and “panic” which, he said, has spread in Russia. But he also acknowledged that the dependence of Armenia to several million cash inflows from Russia constituted an aggravating factor.

The ruble has appreciated by 9% Wednesday after falling dramatically Monday and Tuesday. Its exchange rate remained virtually unchanged Thursday.

Hovik Abrahamyan Prime Minister noted the rebound dram at the opening of the weekly session of his cabinet in the morning. “A stabilization trend was observed in the financial market between yesterday afternoon and today,” he said. “I’m sure it will continue.”

“Yesterday I met with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, other relevant organizations and economic entities,” said Abrahamian to ministers. “Our international partners fully support our efforts to stabilize the financial market in the context of strong fluctuations in exchange rates conditioned by external factors.”

Javadian CBA spent four hours answering questions from lawmakers on the monetary crisis during an emergency session of the Armenian parliament held in camera on Wednesday night. Gagik Khachatryan Finance Minister and other senior government officials were also present at the session, which lasted six hours. On leaving, the President of Parliament Galust Sahakyan told reporters he believed the exchange rate of the dram would stabilize by the end of this month.

Members of the opposition were far from satisfied. Levon Zurabian the Armenian National Congress said the head of ABC failed to clearly explain the causes of volatility in exchange rates which affected negatively the economic activity in the country. Zurabian said that the depreciation of the dram was made possible by a lack of foreign investment and Armenia capital outflows.

Another opposition MP, former Prime Minister Hrant Bagratyan said that the weakening of the dram has already reduced the standard of living in the country. “The dram may rise a bit, but the economy can not meet our needs,” he said. “So the worst is ahead of us. »

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Armenian, currency, rebound

Russia to create national payment system: Putin

March 27, 2014 By administrator

Russian President Vladimir Putin says his country should create its own national payment settlement system to reduce its reliance on West amid heightened tensions over Crimea.

Putin-2Putin told lawmakers in televised remarks on Thursday that such systems worked in countries like Japan and China.

“Initially, they started out solely as national systems limited to their own markets, their own territory, their own population, but they are becoming more popular right now,” the Russian President said, adding, “Why should we not do it? We should definitely do it and we will do it.”

Putin’s remarks came after two American financial companies Visa and MasterCard stopped providing services for payment transactions for clients at Bank Rossiya, following Washington’s sanctions imposed in response to Crimea rejoining Russia.

Crimea declared independence from Ukraine on March 17 and formally applied to become part of Russia following a referendum a day earlier, in which 96.8 percent of Crimean residents voted in favor of the secession. The voter turnout in the referendum stood at 83.1 percent.

The move sparked angry reactions from the United States and the European Union, both imposing punitive measures against a number of Russian officials and authorities in Crimea.

Ukrainian lawmakers have announced that they will never recognize the reunification of Crimea with Russia, vowing to fight for the liberation of the region as long as it takes.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: currency, Putin, Russia

Support Gagrule.net

Subscribe Free News & Update

Search

GagruleLive with Harut Sassounian

Can activist run a Government?

Wally Sarkeesian Interview Onnik Dinkjian and son

https://youtu.be/BiI8_TJzHEM

Khachic Moradian

https://youtu.be/-NkIYpCAIII
https://youtu.be/9_Xi7FA3tGQ
https://youtu.be/Arg8gAhcIb0
https://youtu.be/zzh-WpjGltY





gagrulenet Twitter-Timeline

Tweets by @gagrulenet

Archives

Books

Recent Posts

  • U.S. Judge Dismisses $500 Million Lawsuit By Azeri Lawyer Against ANCA & 29 Others
  • These Are the Social Security Offices Expected to Close This Year, Musk call SS Ponzi Scheme
  • Breaking News, Pashinyan regime has filed charges against public figure Edgar Ghazaryan,
  • ANCA’s Controversial Endorsement: Implications for Armenian Voters
  • (MHP), Devlet Bahçeli, has invited Kurdish Leader Öcalan to the Parliament “Ask to end terrorism and dissolve the PKK.”

Recent Comments

  • administrator on Turkish Agent Pashinyan will not attend the meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State
  • David on Turkish Agent Pashinyan will not attend the meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State
  • Ara Arakelian on A democratic nation has been allowed to die – the UN has failed once more “Nagorno-Karabakh”
  • DV on A democratic nation has been allowed to die – the UN has failed once more “Nagorno-Karabakh”
  • Tavo on I’d call on the people of Syunik to arm themselves, and defend your country – Vazgen Manukyan

Copyright © 2025 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in