The government intends to partially subsidize the wages of high-level foreign specialists - Minister

ArmInfo. 64.9 billion drams  will be allocated from the state budget of Armenia for the needs of  the RA Ministry of Economy in 2023 financial year. This was stated on  November 1 at the budget hearings in the commissions of the National  Assembly of the Republic of Armenia by  head of the department Vahan  Kerobyan.

However, as the minister noted, this amount can be increased,  especially taking into account the development and approval of new  programs. At present, Kerobyan continued, work is underway with the  Ministry of Finance in the direction of financing approved projects,  without waiting for the next financial year. As an example, the  minister cited the program of economic modernization, which provides  for state subsidization of interest rates on loans attracted by  economic entities for the purchase of new equipment or equipment  leasing. As of the end of September, more than 320 companies have  become beneficiaries of this program. Hundreds of companies are  currently negotiating with manufacturers to supply equipment, which  will also give them the opportunity to participate in the program and  expand their capabilities, production volumes and productivity.

The minister also pointed to a project to subsidize the wages of  high-level foreign specialists. We are talking about involving 218  specialists in the work of Armenian companies. AMD 1.057 billion will  be allocated for these purposes.

It is envisaged to attract 4 billion drams from the state budget for  the implementation of the program to promote the attraction of  investments and growth of exports, which will be directed to the  project "Infrastructures against investments" approved by the  government of the country. That is, the state will subsidize the  expenses of companies that make investments for the construction of  water pipes, roads, electricity networks and gas communications. More  than 100 applications have already been received under this program.

The government of the country will direct to the development of  tourism infrastructure, within the framework of which it is planned  to sharply increase the volume of the marketing budget. Instead of  200 million drams this year, 1 billion drams will be allocated for  these purposes in 2023. Together with the German Development Agency,  work is underway to introduce large funds into the development of the  tourism sector.

The minister also said that at the beginning of next year, the  approval of a program to promote small and medium-sized businesses is  not ruled out. In this case, we are talking about starting to  implement it, if there are financial opportunities, right from the  beginning of 2023.

Kerobyan expressed confidence in overfulfillment of budget indicators  and, as a result, in obtaining additional financial resources for new  projects. He added that all these and numerous other projects are  aimed at providing a 7% increase in economic activity.