Armenia 2nd among world’s worst economies
Armenia comes the second in the list of world's poorest economies published by Forbes Magazine. Madagascar is the first and Guinea the third with economic mismanagement and steady population growth.
Member of the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK), economist Vardan Bostanjyan does not agree with the magazine saying the information does not correspond to reality.
"We may stay behind due to some macroeconomic indicators, but we do not possess a backward economy," said Bostanjyan noting that Armenia was to be the 70th on the list.
Economist Movses Aristakesyan is convinced that the country has been unable to recover its economy of the 90s.
"Despite the double-digit economic growth and drawn figures, there has been no change in the living standards," he said.
He stressed that even officials in Armenia, including the president, receive low wages.
"This is the main factor leading to corruption," said the economist.
To construct the list, Forbes ranked 177 countries according to three-year average statistics for gross domestic product growth and inflation (including the IMF's 2012 estimates), plus GDP per capita and the current account balance, a measure of whether the country is importing more than it exports.
"Armenia's economy shrank by 15% in 2009 as an expatriate-financed construction boom fizzled along with the world economy. With a mediocre growth forecast for the next few years, this landlocked former Soviet republic, dependent upon Russia and Iran for virtually all of its energy supplies, is struggling to keep up with the rest of the world. Per-capita GDP of $3,000 is less than a third of neighboring Turkey, and inflation is running at 7%. On top of that, Russia cut back on supplies of diamonds, hurting Armenia's once-thriving diamond-processing industry," writes Forbes.
