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Armenia’s National Assembly adopted on Friday the draft state budget for 2018 with 64 in favor and 36 against votes.  According to the draft budget, in 2018 the total revenues will make 1 trillion 308 billion 285 million AMD of which 1 trillion 248 billion 500.0 million AMD is planned for tax revenues and state duties. The expenditures will amount to 1 trillion 465 billion 200 million AMD, and the deficit is almost unchanged - 156.9 billion AMD.

“Tsarukyan” alliance, the second largest political force represented in the Parliament voted against the draft law, insisting the budget does not express the political content. 

Mikayel Melkumyan, MP from “Tsarukyan” fraction stated before the vote that the budget laid no basis for the economic growth even put the social, education and science expenditures in contradiction to capital expenditure. It further fails to create conditions encouraging competitiveness aimed at struggling monopolies.

The Government of Armenia earlier announced that the budget priorities of the budget expenditure are placed on financial support for the reforms aimed at enhancing the efficiency and targeting of the activities of state bodies and making the services provided by them accessible to the public in specific branches of social sector, financial support for the activities of defense and national security institutions in order to maintain the balance of opposing forces in Artsakh conflict, the territorial integrity of the republic and stability in the region as well as implementation of infrastructure rehabilitation and development programs in specific areas of economy.