Budget 2018: The first step is to increase salaries for customs officers, and pensions and salaries will wait until better times

ArmInfo. Armenian Government  does not plan to increase salaries and pensions in 2018. Instead, it  is planned to increase the salary fund of the Office of Management,  in particular, employees of the tax and customs system.

"We must ensure the necessary level of GDP, and only after that we  can safely go on increasing pensions and wages, "Armenian Minister of  Finance Vardan Aramyan said at a seminar on" The State Budget for  2018 "in answering the question of ArmInfo.

According to the draft budget for the next year, treasury spending  will grow by 104 billion AMD from 1,360.1 billion approved to the end  of this year to 1.464.2 billion AMD. The main directions of budget  expenditures will be social items - pensions and allowances - 27% or  398.4 billion AMD, pay for state employees - 21% or 309.5 billion  AMD, defense sector will require 12% or 181.7 billion AMD. 140.5  billion AMD ($ 67.8 million) or 10% will be directed to servicing the  state debt (interest rate). According to other expenses, it is  envisaged to allocate 261bln AMD or 18%: 48.2bln AMD (3%) for the  subsidies to communities, 68.7bln AMD for social and cultural sphere  and science (5%, the reserve fund will receive 21.1bln AMD (1%),  trade missions, embassies will cost 11 billion or 1% of the total  budget for expenditures, 13.2 billion AMD (1%) will be allocated for  the expenditures of the management apparatus, while the other  expenses of the power block will require 17.9 billion AMD (1%). and  other directions will receive 81.5 billion (6%). At the same time,  out of the budgeted funds for salaries of 3.001.2 million AMD for  payment 32,570 healthcare workers will be allocated AMD 2,179.4mln  less for 44,471.5mln AMD, the education will receive by 2.947.8mln  AMD less - the salary fund for 63.612 employees will make 97.525.7mln  AMD On recreation, culture and religion the fund will decrease from  12.729.3mln to 12.205.7mln with The number of employees is 8,288,  3,072 employees of the social sphere will get less by 4,6% of AMD  4,662.1 million for 62,6 million AMD, and science will keep the  former salary fund - 5,778 employees of the sphere will get 8,169.2  million AMD. Other spheres will receive 19.7 million AMD less.

The increase in the salary fund is expected by the economy sector -  from 9,123.3 million AMD to 9,262.5 million AMD. The staff of the  Management Apparatus turned out to be a big winner - having decreased  a little from the amount of 19,221 to 18,444, their salary fund  increased by 2,592.7 million AMD to 66,446.2 million drams. In  particular, in the "chocolate" were workers of the tax and customs  sphere. As explained in the Armenian Ministry of Finance, if the  average salary of the regional employee of the State Revenue  Committee of Armenia a year ago was about 80 thousand drams, today  the figure has grown to 313 thousand AMD.

To note, economic growth in 2018 is planned at 4.5% or $ 11.948.9  million. 12-month inflation by the end of 2018 will be 4%, instead of  expected in 2017, 2.4% and actual -1.1% in 2016. Exports will reach  37.4% of GDP, against the projected in 2017 37% and 33.1% in 2016.  The consolidated budget of Armenia for 2018 in terms of revenues will  make 1.307.3 billion AMD (without the receipt of interbudgetary  transfers).  At the end of the year, current revenues are expected at  1,210 trillion drams, and by the end of last year, revenues were  1,135.9 billion AMD. Of which, in 2018, taxes will amount to 1.247.9  billion AMD or 21.3% of the runway, against 21.2% in the current year  (1135.0 billion AMD) and 21.3% in 2016 or 1076.9 billion AMD  (adjusted taxes / GDP will be 21.3% instead of 20.9% by the end of  2017 and actual 20.3% last year). Next year, as explained in the  Ministry of Finance, the state treasury will receive less than 395  billion drams due to business payments for VAT, income tax and profit  tax. The deficit / GDP will be 2.7%, instead of the forecasted 3.2%  by the end of this year and 5.5% in the end of 2016 - 156.9 billion  AMD, 150.1 billion and 284.7 billion AMD, respectively. By the end of  2018, the state debt, compared with the current year, will grow  another $ 300 million - to over $ 7 billion and account for 60% of  GDP.