2024-08-04 03:10:46
Economist Tadevos Avetisyan, MP of the Armenia faction of the National Assembly, told Tert.am that the reason for the sharp increase in the price of gasoline in Armenia is not only the inflation recorded in the international fuel market, but also the peculiarities of the local market.
“The market of our country is quite small and the disturbing phenomenon continues that when the prices increase in the international market, the price of gasoline in our country increases at a higher rate than in the international market, but when they decrease, we see the result of that decrease after a certain period of time. This is explained by the fact that we have expensive gasoline, and it takes time to sell the cheap one. In this case, a question arises: cheaply bought gasoline, which is becoming more expensive in the international market, why is that batch sold more expensive here? The answer to this is very simple. the market is small, the degree of monopolization is high, and the state bodies do not fully and efficiently control the markets with a high degree of monopolization,” he said.
According to the economist, the expectations created by the current authorities, saying that the market will be liberalized, like other promises, were not fulfilled.
“Only names, business representatives and profit sharing have changed in the market. The consumer and the public do not gain anything from it. If we want to have a long-term market effect, the market must be liberalized. It should be done not with words, loud, manipulative speeches, but conditions should be created so that more business entities will really participate in imports, and as a result, competition will lead to inflation restraints,” said Tadevos Avetisyan.
The economist also expressed his opinion that there will be no price reduction in the fuel market in the near future.
“In the background of restrictions caused by covid in the international market, there may be a decrease in demand and a certain price reduction, but we will not see it,” he noted.
Tadevos Avetisyan considered the new inflation unlikely.
“It is unlikely that there will be new inflation in the international markets, because they have reached the peak of demand. Stability will be observed here. Due to Covid, there will be a decrease in demand, and the main factor driving up prices is demand itself. If the demand decreases, there will be no inflation, on the contrary, there may be deflation, but we are unlikely to see it,” he said.