## 2024-08-10 03:43:40
Tadevos Avetisyan, a member of the National Assembly “Armenia” faction, has criticized the draft budget for 2022, arguing that it fails to adequately address the severe social consequences of inflation.
Against the backdrop of decreasing real incomes among vulnerable citizens, poverty rates continue to climb. In 2019, poverty increased by 3 percentage points, reaching 26.3%, and according to the World Bank, it further increased by 7 percentage points in 2020.
Despite this, the draft budget fails to increase the amounts of various social benefits, pensions, or minimum wages. While average wages increased by 6% in January-August 2021, inflation stood at 6.4%.
The factors causing poverty remain prevalent in 2021, leading to persistent real income declines. Notably, inflation rates have been steadily increasing throughout 2021, with the latest figures from the Statistical Committee showing a higher inflation rate in each subsequent month compared to the previous one.
For example, the average consumer price index (CPI) increased by 6.7% in January-September 2021, while food prices soared by 10%.
As a result, the cost of the minimum consumer basket per capita has also climbed, exceeding the minimum monthly salary in the second quarter of 2021.
The draft state budget for 2022 completely ignores the social ramifications of inflation. It envisions a 29% increase in total revenue and a 18.2% rise in expenses, yet fails to increase unemployment benefits and only modestly raises certain pensions.
This despite the government’s own projection of a 7% inflation rate for consumer goods in 2021 and 5.5% in 2022, and a significant rise in food prices.
In essence, the draft budget is demonstrably anti-social.
- The proposed increases in pension amounts are insufficient to keep pace with inflation.
- These increases are inadequate considering the existing economic constraints and the planned increase in total budget revenue and expenditure.
- Even with these increases, the gap between the incomes of disadvantaged families and the value of the minimum consumer basket will widen, leaving these citizens worse off.
- This contradicts the government’s previous promise to align the average pension with the cost of the minimum consumer basket.
the proposed budget perpetuates a harmful trend of stagnant real incomes, primarily affecting vulnerable populations.
Throughout the past 18 years, pension and minimum wage increases have failed to keep pace with inflation, leading to a sustained decline in real incomes and a surge in poverty.