2024-07-21 19:17:15
Deputy of RA NA “Armenia” faction, ARF party member Tadevos Avetisyan writes.
The preliminary socio-economic indicators of RA for 2021 were published today. So it is stated once again:
In Armenia, the quality of life continues to decrease, in parallel, poverty is increasing and social problems are worsening.
Facts in numbers (indicators are given in the table below):
1. About ¼ of the workers in Armenia work on the minimum wage. Compared to 2020, in 2021, the minimum monthly salary, as well as the basic salary of public servants, did not increase, and the monthly value of the minimum consumer basket per capita increased by about 21.7 percent.
In particular, in 2021, the minimum monthly salary was 68,000 drams, and the monthly cost of the minimum consumer basket per capita was around 73,400 drams.
2. Compared to 2020, in 2021, the basic and average amounts of social benefits, the minimum and basic amounts of pension, and the values of one year of work experience did not increase.
3. In 2022, the amounts of minimum and basic salaries, the basic pension, the values of one year of work experience, and the basic amount of social benefits will not be increased.
In other words, the allowances and pensions of 485,000 or 83 percent of around 585,000 pensioners and social benefit recipients were not increased in 2022 either. The allowances and pensions of the remaining 17 percent have increased slightly, on average by 2-3 thousand drams.
4. Instead, only in 2021 we already have 7.2 percent increases in consumer prices, 11.5 percent in average food prices, and about 21.5 percent in the monthly cost of the minimum consumer basket. And for 2022, the government of the day predicted an increase in consumer prices up to 5.5 percent.
5. Compared to 2020, the average monthly nominal salary in 2021 increased by 7.6 percent. This growth indicator is problematic in itself, against the background of economic activity of only 5.8 percent.
Even this figure of inflated average wage growth is almost 3 times lower than the growth of the monthly value of the minimum consumer basket, about 1.5 times less than the average inflation of food, and about 4 times less than the average inflation of basic necessities (eggs, oil, vegetables, sugar, etc.) times. In other words, in 2021, the average real wages of workers, and therefore also their purchasing power, have decreased.
6. In 2021, RA citizens lived worse than in 2020, when there were widespread and unjustified economic restrictions of COVID-19, in addition to the economic consequences of the 44-day war. Moreover, compared to 2019, the average level of poverty increased by 0.6 percentage points in 2020, the factors of which intensified in 2021 and are maintained in 2022. The citizens of Armenia will live even worse next year than this year.
7. In fact, the false promises of the authorities of the day are revealed day by day and replaced by bigger lies.
Indicators | 2020թ․ | 2021թ․ |
minimum monthly salary (DAM) | 68000 | 68000 |
base salary (USD) | 66140 | 66140 |
average monthly nominal salary (Drams) | 192621 | 204048 |
average amount of social benefit (dollars) | 31350 | 31350 |
basic amount of social benefit (Drams) | 18000 | 18000 |
minimum pension amount (Drams) | 26500 | 26500 |
amount of basic pension (Drams) | 18000 | 18000 |
minimum consumer basket value (Drams) according to the RA Ministry of Health indicators | 60305 | 73400 |
consumer price index compared to the previous year (%) | 104․5 | 107.2 |