The influence of election processes on Armenia’s economy should not be overestimated because this is a short-term impact, economist Samvel Avagyan said.
The effect of these processes must be viewed from direct and indirect positions, he told a press conference in Yerevan.
“First of all, pre-election developments affect the retail trade, the publishing sphere, and the currency rate. Official statistics says that during the previous parliamentary elections in 2007 the retail trade rose by 20 per cent or AMD 11 billion in April against March,” he said. “These resources were mostly spent for various pre-election social programs and bribing.”
As to publishing sphere, it recorded double growth in March 2007.
Speaking about the immediate influence of pre-election processes on the country’s economy, Avagyan emphasized that investments tends to go down in this period because “populist declarations of the race participants negatively affect the governmental programs.”
According to the economist, the expenses may account for about USD 70-80 million per month in total, including the governmental costs.
As to the national currency, the Armenian dram, the expert believes it may strengthen with regard to U.S. dollar due to additional dollar flow into Armenia’s economy.
