Armenia to have shoe-string budget next year –premier

Today’s cabinet meeting approved the 2017 draft budget.

Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan said that Armenia is going to have a tight budget next year.

“Figures prove that – an AMD 70bn increase in budget revenues and plus-minus AMD 100bn decrease in budget expenditures. All the problems you have raised are urgent,” the premier said.

Armenia’s Minister of Finance Vardan Aramyan noted that the fundamental principle incorporated in the 2017 draft budget - monetary and debt stability.

“In 2014-2015, we had a rather large budget deficit – 4.8%. And we are most likely to have a 5.9% deficit this year. This caused a higher foreign debt/GDP ratio, which is the major cause of the debt,” Mr Aramyan said.

The minister said that 2014-2105 saw the foreign debt increase from the 43.7% threshold to make 54/4% by the end of the current year.

“So we have to adopt a conservative approach in the next couple of years to come not to allow a foreign debt surplus,” he said.

The government agreed to curtail the expenses to 1.360 trillion Armenian Drams (AMD 473 = US $1). The expected deficit will be 2.8%.