YEREVAN. – Armenia, Artsakh, the Armenian people, we all need to come out stronger as a result of this crisis [due to the coronavirus pandemic]. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated this at the start of Thursday’s Cabinet meeting of the government of Armenia.

He informed that yesterday the government discussed anti-crisis economic tactics and strategy. "Our decision is unequivocal," he said. “We have and will not set a task before us to restore the pre-crisis economic situation, however good that situation was in Armenia. We have set the task to be guided by much greater ambitions in our post-crisis situation positioning. (...) in the meantime, we need to implement development plans, maybe focus more on the reform agenda we have adopted, and of course, we need to provide serious support to the economy that shall have development logic."

Pashinyan also said it is clear that the crisis will also present some social challenges. "We need to face up and take equivalent steps in their regard, too" he added. "It is very important that these social programs be effective, targeted, fair."