Armenian finance ministry sees no reasons for any price rise in 2018
YEREVAN, November 6. /ARKA/. Armenia’s finance ministry sees no reasons for any price rise in 2018, Atom Janjughazyan, deputy finance minister, said Monday in the National Assembly at the 2018 draft government budget hearings in parliamentary committees. nbsp;nbsp;br br
Karen Karapetyan, Armenian prime minister, speaking Thursday at a news conference, urged everybody not to be quick in predicting increase in public transport fares.nbsp;br br
A new tax code comes into force on January 1, 2018. It implies change of some tax rates, including excise tax, which gave grounds for public concern over possible increase in consumer commodity prices and public transport fares.br br “There are certain goods that can display another conduct differing from that of the general group of commodities, which is taken into consideration in gauging inflation,” Janjughazyan said. “But it is difficult to react to them because of the lack of the system of assessment of justification for the price change explanation.”br br
He said that the ministry has no information now which allows putting forward any justification for changing prices in 2018 after introduction of the new tax code.nbsp;br br
The deputy minister finds it difficult to forecast possible developments. nbsp;br br
He said that the figures presented in the draft budget, including spending and inflation are based on current things and prices. nbsp;br br
In the draft government budget for 2018, social spending remains almost unchanged, compared with the previous year’s budget. It is cut by AMD 362 million or 0.1% to AMD 408.7 billion. Spending on pensions is projected to amount to AMD 236 billion in 2018 against AMD 248 billion in 2017, and on benefits to AMD 78.6 billion, which is equal to the 2017 amount.nbsp;br br
According to the central bank’s forecast, inflation in Armenia will not exceed 2% in 2017. Now the 12-month inflation stands at 1.7%, which is a very low indicator, and the annual 2017 inflation stands between 2.5% and 2.6%, which is not so dangerous for the country’s economy. nbsp;br br
In the 2017 government budget, inflation is projected at 4% (±1.5%) and GDP growth at 3.2%.nbsp;br br
On September 28, the Armenian government upheld the draft budget for 2018.br br
In the draft budget, revenue is projected at AMD 1 trillion 307 billion, spending at AMD 1 trillion 464.2 billion and deficit at AMD 156.9 billion. ($1 – AMD 484.37). --0---br