July 8, 2009 - 17:17 AMT
Crisis urges countries to focus on smooth economy
Smooth economy is very important in crisis time, RA Economy Minister Nerses Yeritsyan told journalists, summing up the results of the international conference devoted to "Global Crisis Impact on Armenia: Long-term and Short-term Prospects". "It is necessary to focus on restoring economic growth and diversifying economy in post-crisis period," Minister said, noting that international experts had also proposed such ideas during the conference.

Besides, "We must be convinced that the recent 10-15 years' achievements in the sphere of reducing poverty and unemployment rate didn't suffer losses, " he added.

In that context, transition from simple social transfers (in particular, distribution of allowances) to public programs attracted special attention, Minister said. "I'll closely follow the process of the organization of relevant government discussions aimed at discovering people with business thinking and assisting in the development of the system," he said, adding that the solution of the problem required special attention in the short- and long-term perspectives.

Short-term perspectives require finding ways for achieving the speedy solution of existing problems. With regard to the long-term perspectives, it is necessary to maintain a balance between Armenia's debt burden and the reforms enhancing resource management procedures for paying off debts, Yeristyan noted.

On July 7-8, Yerevan hosted an international conference devoted to "Global Crisis Impact on Armenia: Long-term and Short-term Prospects". The event was organized upon the initiative of AIPRG.