Atom Janjughazyan: Draft budget of 2017 will reduce Government`s expenses by 177 mln AMD

ArmInfo. The draft budget of  2017 will reduce the Armenian Government's expenses by 177 mln AMD to  11.6 bln AMD, First Deputy Minister of Finance of Armenia Atom  Janjughazyan said at the budget hearings in Parliament on November 1. 

He said that these funds will be spent on 29 programs. 

For his part, Head of the Armenian Government Staff David Harutyunyan  said that the Government is going to develop the system of  e-services, improve management in emergency situations, optimize the  public procurement, including the air tickets for business trips.  Harutyunyan noted that the reduction in the Government's expenses is  mostly due to the optimization of the car fleet. "We have got rid of  24 out of the 83 official cars, but it is not enough. So, we will be  saving funds in other fields, too," he stressed.        

To note, in 2017 the state budget revenues will be increased by 27  bln AMD to 1 trillion 210 bln AMD, expenditures will be reduced by  about 13 bln AMD to 1 trillion 360 bln AMD ($2.87 bln at the current  exchange rate). The deficit will be 150.1 bln AMD. In the structure  of revenues, 1 trillion 135 bln AMD will be tax revenues and state  duties (1 065 bln AMD in 2016), 31 bln AMD - official grants (31.5  bln AMD in 2016), 44.1 bln AMD - other revenues (25.8 bln AMD). 

In the Armenian state budget of 2016, expenditures total 1 trillion  377 bln AMD (25.3% expenses-to-GDP ratio), revenues - 1 trillion  186.3 bln AMD (21.8%), and the deficit - 197 bln AMD (3.5%  deficit-to-GDP ratio). The GDP real growth for 2016 is estimated at  2.2%, GDP deflator index - at 4%, 12-month inflation - 4% (+1.5%),  and state budget deficit - at 3.5% of GDP.