Armenians, poorest of poor

/By AzerNews/

By Mushvig Mehdiyev

Armenian population is revealed to be the poorest of poor, as the gap between the rich and poor in the country deepened over the last year.

Armenia could not escape the recent worldwide economic crisis because of its lame domestic economy. The reports show that the rich people became richer all while the poor ones hit the "ocean's bed" in 2014.

Credit Suisse bank in Switzerland developed a distinctive method of defining the financial status of world's population. Dividing the people into two groups - rich and poor - the bank set a $3,650 annual income as a criterion for being a rich man.

Official data suggests that Armenian population cannot even come near the people positioned at the top of Credit Suisse's chart. Monthly income of the richest citizens in Armenia was slightly more than $270 in 2013, said the official data.

A catastrophe is observed when the income of poor Armenians is revealed. Official data claim that there are people in the country whose monthly revenue does not even reach $20. In this case, poverty-hit residents of the post-Soviet country can hardly be included in the chart of the Swiss bank.

Intensification of the poverty in Armenia is triggered by a sharp drop in private money transfers from the overseas, Russia in particular. Moreover, the fluctuation of exchange rates in both countries pushed Armenians into a deeper poverty.

Some experts believe that the recent price hike in domestic markets along with Russia's possible move to increase the tariff for gas it exports to Armenia could further increase the number of financially vulnerable people in Armenia.

Artak Manukayn, a local economist, earlier predicted a surging inflation in Armenia in the first quarter of this year, promising a worse life in the country in 2015 than it was in 2014.

The latest data by the National Statistics Committee recorded that 32 percent of Armenia's population is living in poverty.

Meanwhile, forecasts by international organizations on Armenia's economic progress promises no good future due to the ongoing stagnation in many fields including economy, trade, business, agriculture and etc.

Fitch and Moody's have downgraded their outlooks for Armenia's economic growth. Meanwhile the European Bank for Development and Reconstruction has annulled its forecast on economy in the post-Soviet country this year.

Poverty in the post-Soviet country seems to remain alongside other unresolved problems that the government is incapable of getting rid of.