Former chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia Bagrat Asatryan said that the 2011 state budget of Armenia is not the best one in the country’s history.

“Armenia’s citizens will not become happier by the end of 2011, while those people, who cannot live with our reality, will leave the country, as the Motherland cannot create favorable life conditions for them,” said Asatryan.

According to him, under the 2011 budget, 14.5% and 42.4% drop will be recorded in the educational and agricultural expenditures respectively. Besides, only 7.7% growth is envisaged in the social expenditures, while inflation already amounted to 7.8% during the first nine months of 2010.

Asatryan also believes that the pension reforms have been failed in Armenia. “It had been decided to adopt all relevant laws in 2010, with voluntary and compulsory pension systems to start operating from 2011. However, as a result of discussions, the compulsory system was postponed for three years, i.e. the radical reforms have been postponed, as our government is unable to solve serious tasks,” concluded Asatryan.