ArmInfo.Due to the revaluation of the national currency in Armenia, the exporters of agricultural products, beverages, as well as the tourism sector, the IT sector and developers suffered the most. Chairman of the Mantashyants Entrepreneurs Union Vahram Mirakyan wrote about this on his Facebook page.
In particular, speaking about agricultural products, he stressed that previously the cost of tomatoes or eggplants purchased from farmers for canned food export was conditionally 500 drams, and it was sold at the export markets at a cost of $1.2, but now the price has remained the same, but the export cost has increased to $1.4.
Consequently, according to the entrepreneur, the Armenian exporter is forced to raise prices, but under the created conditions, an exporter more resistant to the dollar, for example from Azerbaijan, takes advantage of the situation, forcing the Armenian exporter out of the market.
As Mirakyan noted, a similar situation is observed in the beverage export market, which is the country's most important export area. "For example, an enterprise exporting wine exported products worth $100,000, of which 10% is its profit. The entrepreneur will receive money for the exported wine, but with a loss of 10%. At the same time, he must pay income tax to the state, since, according to the documentation, he has a profit of 10%. This is such an absurd situation," he stressed.
At the same time, Mirakyan pointed to the decrease in the competitiveness of the Armenian tourism industry due to the current situation. As an example, he noted that the conditional cost of a tour package is $1,000, but it will rise to $1,200, which will make tourists think longer about whether it is worth organizing their vacation in Armenia. Speaking about developers, the head of the Union stressed that prices in the srctore are fixed by the ratio of the dollar to the dram. Now, according to him, due to the change in the ratio, developers will either start raising prices or suffer losses.
As Mirakyan noted, the IT sector will also lose its price competitive advantage. If earlier the company received about $100,000 from abroad per month and paid the salaries of 20 programmers, then with the situation with the exchange rate, these funds can be spent on the salaries of 18 employees. In the same logic, Mirakyan pointed out the difficulties in the investment sector.
Summing up, the head of the Union emphasized that due to the dram's revaluation, the sectors that create added value and bring money to the country mainly suffer.
At the same time, he drew attention to the fact that from the current situation will benefit importers who take finance out of the country, developing the economies of Turkey, China or the Russian Federation.
At the same time, the head of the Union stressed that the financial authorities of the country would benefit. They are afraid of incurring reputational damage due to inflation, because to stop the dram's revaluation, , it will be necessary to buy the currency, which in turn will spur inflation. "In short, officials are sacrificing long-term development and growth to give the impression of short-term gain," he concluded.
A day earlier, Armenian Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan, commenting on the situation with the dram's revaluation, stressed that monetary policy should contribute to the country's economic growth, helping exporters of the manufacturing industry and the IT sector that provides services. In this regard, he stressed that exporters and the IT sector are concerned about the dram's revaluation (on average by 18% per annum by June 9 this year - Ed.) and in these conditions the Central Bank should start using new tools.
"We understand their concerns about inflation, but we think that now everything needs to be done in such a way that important branches of the economy do not suffer," Kerobyan noted, stressing that the Regulator has the tools to ensure a more balanced exchange rate.
