Two coalition parties, Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) and Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) clearly expressed their support for the 2010 draft budget, and the Head of the RPA faction called the document a RPA draft budget, whereas the third coalition party, Country of Law (CL), has not yet decided on its position. Head of the CL faction Yeghine Bisharyan pointed out that the party will make a final decision after a party conference. She admitted the fact that the political forces showed understanding in the context of the global economic crisis.

In its turn, the opposition Heritage Party is against the draft budget. The party states the budget was drafted without numerous factors considered. Among them is the expected rise in gas prices, which will cause a chain reaction. “With all this considered, the draft budget does not provide for any rise in wages and pensions. Therefore, the social situation will be become even graver in the country,” stated Head of the Heritage faction Armen Martirosyan.

Ara Nranyan, a member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) elaborated on the draft budget. He stated that the document does not inspire any optimism, as the social situation will not improve amid decreasing transfers, rising prices and unchanging incomes of the population, in 2010-2011. The Government is well aware of the necessity for reforms of the country’s economic set-up. But, after receiving the international loans, the Government “calmed down and is not going to bother its head about reforms,” Nranyan said. He is sure that the RA Government is waiting for economic stabilization in the United States and Russia. A rise in the world oil prices will intensify capital construction, and Armenia will “soon be back where it started” – the former economic indicators.

However, experience shows that Armenia has an entirely wrong economic set-up, which is the reason why the economic crisis affected the country worse than others, Nranyan said. If the Government continues this economic policy, Armenia will soon be declared bankrupt. The Government can hardly maintain the AMD exchange rate now by selling U.S. dollars provided by international agencies as loans. “The donor organizations are of course discontented with the Armenian authorities’ policy. As soon as the funds are used up, the current market will become uncontrollable,” Nranyan said.