YEREVAN. - 60,000 people left Armenia in 2016, this figure being higher than the indexes for last year.   

Secretary of the Armenian National Congress (ANC) parliamentary faction, Aram Manukyan, told the aforementioned to Armenian News – NEWS.am.

According to him, those 60,000 people, who left Armenia, are the greatest loss of the year 2016.

''The April 2 events also became a painful page, from which the authorities unfortunately learnt no lessons. As to the seizure of the Armenian police station, it turned into the scream of a powerless man and a wave of dissatisfaction. Although this was an unreasonable step, it anyway turned into a wave of national protest. In 2016, new Government was also formed, which first engendered 'sprouts' of hope but also disappointed very quickly.  This very Government introduced an absolutely unpromising budget. This is the worst budget for the last 25 years. Neither the pensions nor the salaries were increased,'' the opposition MP said.

In his words, this was a year of regress in terms of economy. ''The Government-reformer increased our debt by another 180 million AMD. During the year, the state debt of Armenia per capita grew from $1800 to $2100,'' Manukyan said.

Referring to the positive steps in the year 2016, he noted the adoption of the new Electoral Code, which came to include several promising provisions as a result of the struggle between the parliamentary and non-parliamentary forces, as well as civil society.  ''Publishing of the voter lists and installment of cameras are promising steps. They give some hope for recording certain positive progress during the upcoming elections,'' the Secretary concluded.