Armenia’s economy in the hands of oligarchs

Former head of the central bank of Armenia, Bagrat Asatryan thinks that the recent problems in the Armenian economy are the result of the country’s economy being under the control of the oligarchic system. He thinks that there are five to six people in Armenia, who possess enough political levers to create a financial situation in the country to serve their own interests. This does not comply with the regular economic rules and so the Armenian economy exists under the rules set by these people. The so called shadow economy is in fact bigger than the official economy. As a result inflation is up to 9-10 percent in Armenia. According to Asatryan, Armenia’s Central Bank carries out various steps to try to stop the inflation process, but it is very difficult. According to Asatryan, today Armenia’s financial system is very weak and not developed enough, giving few guarantees for stability. The development of Armenia’s economy is very slow and it is performing very poorly in exporting its products.