Thursday, November 2 2017 16:50
Karina Melikyan

The deficit of the budget of Armenia by October 2017 decreased by 35.8% per annum

The deficit of the budget of Armenia by October 2017 decreased by  35.8% per annum

ArmInfo. The budget deficit of  Armenia in January-September 2017 amounted to 92.8 billion AMD ($  192.2 million), declining by 35.8% year-on-year, against the growth  of 25.1% a year earlier.

According to the National Statistical  Service of Armenia, the budget revenues of Armenia accelerated the  annual growth rates from 0.4% to 5%, amounting to 888.4 billion AMD,  against which the costs changed the trend from a 3.4% growth to a 1%  decline to 81.2% billion AMD.

In the revenue structure, the share of taxes and duties increased  year on year (from 9 months in 2017 to the same period in 2016) -  from 93.1% to 94.1%, in absolute terms, up 6.2% to 836.4 billion AMD  (against a meager growth a year ago). In particular, the annual  dynamics improved with the exit from the downward trend in revenues  from customs duties - from 13.8% decline by 29.7% growth to 52.2  billion AMD, proceeds from payments for the use of natural resources  and preservation of the surrounding of the 16.8% decline sharply  reached a 60.9% growth - up to 31.3 billion drams, income from the  value-added tax changed the dynamics from 11.6% decline to 4.6%  growth - up to 89.8 billion AMD. At the same time, the upward trend  kept income from the income tax - by 1.7% to 248 billion AMD,  turnover tax - by 20.9% - to 13 billion AMD, targeted social payments  - by 18.3% - to 11.1 billion AMD, excise tax - by 31.4% to 54.4  billion AMD, state duty - by 1.6% - up to 24.7 billion AMD, fixed  payments - by 12.2% - to 2.6 billion AMD. The annual dynamics has  worsened only for income from income tax - from 28.6% growth to a  14.5% decline, the volume of which was 87.9 billion AMD.

Against this background, budget expenditures entered a downward  trend, and exclusively on such items as the purchase of goods and  services - by 9.7% to 98.7 billion AMD (against 35.4% decline a year  ago), subsidies - by 8.9% % to 74.9 billion AMD (against 4.6-fold  growth a year earlier) and grants - by 14% to 99.1 billion AMD  (against growth of 7% a year earlier). On non-financial assets, the  dynamics came out of the 24% decline by 0.5% growth - up to 84.7  billion AMD. Interest payments on state debt almost kept the annual  growth rates - 23.6% to 90.6 billion AMD, out of which 52.6 billion -  on external debt, with a sharp slowdown in growth from 32.6% to 10%.  Expenditures on benefits and pensions slightly slowed the annual  growth, from 3% to 1.9%, to 302 billion AMD, and for salaries - from  2% to 1.5% - to 99.9 billion AMD.