Armenian citizens prefer keeping money in banks to spending it on goods and services.

In his exclusive interview with NEWS.am, RA Minister of Finance Tigran Davtyan voiced the opinion that “the population started spending more money with the first signs of economic growth and favorable tendencies, which means that the population stopped thinking of &‘a rainy day’. The consumer demand has risen.”

The statistical data, however, prove the opposite. As of the end of this February the balance of deposits showed an increase of as much as 49% as compared with the corresponding period last year. On the other hand, retrial trade turnover increased by only 0.6%. As regards, paid services, the turnover had not change at all.

In absolute terms, the population’s expenses on good and services totaled 8.5bn AMD (an increase of 3.7%). A regards the population’s bank deposits, their increase defied officials’ most vivid imagination – an almost 100bn AMD! No comments…

Thus, the population’s expenses on goods and service, if increased at all, did not increase considerably. On the other hand, the population started saving much more “for a rainy day.” In Soviet times it was deficit (e.g. car deficit) that accounted for savings, it is not at all the reason for the snowballing deposits now.

T.P.