ArmInfo. The head of the State Revenue Committee of Armenia, Rustam Badasyan, acknowledged the existence of problems associated with ensuring the tax collection indicators recorded in the state budget. Finance Minister Vahe Hovhannisyan, in turn, did not rule out budget sequestration.
The day before in the National Assembly, the head of the Ministry of Finance, Vahe Hovhannisyan, during a discussion of the report of the Ministry of Health, said that the financial department plans to discuss with the latter the priorities of the department and make certain changes to the expenses of the healthcare sector. The head of the Ministry of Finance recalled that previously a number of government agencies assumed obligations, the volume of which at that time was impossible to estimate. The financial department spoke earlier about the likelihood of certain risks, he added. (The Ministry of Health stated that from 2024, RA hospitals will receive unlimited funding for the implementation of government orders on the principle "how much you work, so much you will receive" - ed.). "We must discuss the department's priorities with the Ministry of Health and understand that if costs continue to grow, it will be necessary to discuss their implementation at the expense of other areas or the issue of their suspension, including this applies to 2024. There are certain issues related to tax collection. Not with the collection of taxes, but due to a number of economic indicators, the plans that we had for tax collections are, in a certain sense, not being fulfilled, the connection with which must be clarified," Vahe Hovhannisyan explained.
Today, during a meeting of the relevant commission, the former Minister of Health of Armenia, and now a deputy of the ruling faction Arsen Torosyan, asked the chief tax officer how real these problems are.
"If we consider the indicators recorded in the law "On the state budget of Armenia for 2024," then there are problems with the collection of tax revenues," Badasyan said.
The head of the State Revenue Committee did not specify the amount of the "shortage", but indicated that problems are inventoried monthly and conclusions are drawn regarding the presence of possible risks.
And the problems, according to the chief tax officer, are caused by changes in the structure of the economy, which contributed to the sharp growth of areas "without tax potential." For example, the construction industry has grown and reached its peak in 2022-2023, but from a tax perspective it will become interesting only after the sale of apartments. Meanwhile, this year the potential of areas with taxable potential has decreased. However, according to Badasyan, final conclusions can only be drawn after the end of the financial year.
Nevertheless, Torosyan insisted on voicing the size of the shortfall.
Minister of Finance Vahe Hovhannisyan stated that the Ministry of Finance is involved in planning, and the department could not have known about the presence of such risks before the end of the year. And that was based on a number of assumptions, he added.
After receiving a full picture, the Ministry of Finance realized that there was a risk of not collecting 60 billion drams from the amount fixed in the approved state budget for this year. This problem, Hovhannisyan continued, is associated both with structural changes in the economy and with a lower level of inflation than recorded in the document. At the same time, we do not think that the deviation will be higher than 3-4%, and this will be within the normal range, he assured.
"If there is a need to reduce expenses due to a lack of tax collection, then we can do that," concluded the chief financier of Armenia.
According to the state budget for 2024, in this year. in conditions of ensuring 7% GDP growth, revenues of the state treasury of Armenia will amount to 2 trillion 723 billion drams (25.9% of GDP), and expenses - 3 trillion 206 billion drams (30.5% of GDP). Of the 2 trillion 723 billion drams of state treasury revenue, 2 trillion 613 billion will be tax revenues and state duties (24.9% of GDP). 22 billion 276 million drams will be official grants and 87 billion 676 million drams will be other income. The GDP deflator will grow by 4%. Average inflation is forecast at 3.2%. The state budget deficit will amount to 482.9 billion drams or 4.6% of GDP. Let us recall that according to the state budget for 2024, in this year. in conditions of ensuring 7% GDP growth, revenues of the state treasury of Armenia will amount to 2 trillion 723 billion drams (25.9% of GDP), and expenses - 3 trillion 206 billion drams (30.5% of GDP). Of the 2 trillion 723 billion drams of state treasury revenue, 2 trillion 613 billion will be tax revenues and state duties (24.9% of GDP). 22 billion 276 million drams will be official grants and 87 billion 676 million drams will be other income. The GDP deflator will grow by 4%. Average inflation is forecast at 3.2%. The state budget deficit will amount to 482.9 billion drams or 4.6% of GDP.
