On June 5, the debates of the Annual Report on the Execution of the State Budget of the Republic of Armenia for 2018 launched at the Standing Committees of the National Assembly.
During the presentation of the budget execution, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan noted that the Government managed to solve the most important problem - macroeconomic stability. According to him, the draft state budget for 2018 estimated 4.5 percent economic growth, but 5.2 percent was recorded.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan mentioned that the Government has succeeded in overexecuting the planned budget for 2018. The RA Government does not have any unfulfilled obligations under the state budget.
“The macroeconomic stability, which we have maintained, is very important and the indices of the four months of this year come to prove that. This is the result of joint work”, - said Pashinyan.
Presenting the budget execution, Finance Minister Atom Janjughazyan noted that the main features of the 2018 budget are the amendments to the Tax Code, which entered into force on January 1, 2018, the introduction of program budgeting format and the application of new fiscal rules.
According to Minister Janjughazyan, the program indicator for revenues of the previous year amounted to AMD 1 trillion 308 billion, the adjusted index was AMD 1 trillion 365 billion, the actual index – AMD 1 trillion 342 billion or 98.3 percent of the adjusted program. Tax revenues and state duties totaled AMD 1 trillion 258 billion or 99.7 percent of the adjusted program. The expenditures were planned at AMD 1 trillion 465 billion, the adjusted index was AMD 1 trillion 527 billion, the actual index - AMD 1 trillion 447 billion or 94.7 percent of the adjusted program. The deficit for the year 2018 was projected to be AMD 156.9 billion; the adjusted index was AMD 161.9 billion, while the actual index was AMD 105 billion or 65.1 percent of the adjusted program.
Minister Janjughazyan clarified that changes in the budget program are conditioned by a number of factors, including the inclusion of funds circulated through off-budget accounts in the adjusted and actual indices, the operations performed in accordance with the specific provisions of the state budget law and the changes made within the powers granted to the Government.
Touching upon the state debt, Minister said that at the end of 2018 it made USD 6 billion 923 million. The Government's debt comprised to USD 6 billion 373 million, the remaining USD 550 million is the debt of the Central Bank. According to Janjughazyan, USD 1 billion 390 million of the Government's debt is internal, the rest is foreign debt.
“According to the 2018 data, the Government debt / GDP ratio is 51.4 percent, and the state debt / GDP ratio - 55.8 percent”, - presented the Minister of Finance and stressed that Armenia continues to be rated as a country with a low debt burden, it succeeded in keeping its public debt manageable and causing no risks.
At the joint sitting of the RA NA Standing Committees on Defense and Security and on Financial-Credit and Budgetary Affairs, it was also touched upon the indicators envisaged by the 2018 state budget for the RA Police, the RA Ministry of Emergency Situations and the RA National Security Service.
The adjusted program of the RA Ministry of Emergency Situations for 2018 made AMD 11,65 billion, and the actual index was AMD 11,47 billion.
AMD 20.66 billion was provided for the RA National Security Service, the adjusted index was 20.49 billion, and the actual index – AMD 20 billion.
Last year AMD 41.7 billion was planned for the RA Police, the adjusted index was 66 billion, and the actual index – AMD 62.8 billion.