YEREVAN. – At this rate, the full recovery of Armenia’s economy will take 2-3 years; economist Ara Karyan said this to a press conference Tuesday. He recalled that in 2020, the country’s economic decline was 7.8 percent, and this year the decline was another 2 percent.

The expert added that the pace of vaccination in Armenia against the coronavirus is slow, and compared to numerous other countries, only 3.5 percent of Armenia’s GDP is directed to anti-crisis programs.

According to him, the eventual beneficiaries of Armenia’s subsidy programs are only the banks, whereas the country’s real sector is just recovering it losses.

The expert noted, however, that some economic activity is observed in Armenia only in the mining sector, due to the increase in world copper prices, and in the construction sector, thanks to the implementation of state-run programs to subsidize mortgage loans.

As per Karyan, the fluctuations of the Armenian dram’s exchange rate will be within the controllable.

But he sharply criticized the authorities' intention to allow cannabis production in Armenia based on the presented justifications and calculations. "In the future, it can cause serious social problems, leading to a sharp increase in drug use," added the expert.

And touching upon the topic of unblocking communications in the region, Ara Karyan considered it possible to propose multimodal infrastructure to Azerbaijan during the respective talks, to outline the sections through which it will pass, to set tariffs, as well as to attract investments from China, Arab countries, and possibly India.