The world is bracing for the second wave of economic downturn, and the latter’s consequences could be dire for Armenia. The first wave’s consequence for Armenia was its US$ 3.5-billion debt.  

Also, the price of raw material items sharply fell as a result of the global economic crisis. To note, 40 percent of Armenia’s industrial products is exported. And although the physical volume of Armenia’s mining industry did not reduce during the crisis, the value index did fall considerably because of the drop in the price of metals in the international market.

Also, the number of poor and extremely poor families grew. This is also a result of fewer remittances from abroad. One-third of Armenia’s population receives remittances; and the cause for fewer remittances was the shocks in the Russian economy. And this could repeat as a result of the second wave of global economic downturn and the fall in oil prices.       

But it is surprising that, despite the economic drop in 2009, average salaries increased by 9.8 percent in Armenia.