ArmInfo. The state budget of Armenia is a large family pocket of every citizen of the country. This was stated by Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan at the hearings on the draft state budget of the Republic of Armenia in the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia on October 28.
According to him, there are various budgets in the country - local self-government bodies, which are formed by the Councils of Elders of communities, budgets of private companies, especially large companies, whose budgets are formed and discussed every year, but there are also family budgets. "I do not think that there are many families in Armenia that do not calculate and plan their budgets, income and expenses, as well as the deficit of financial resources in advance," the head of government said. He emphasized that the country's development should be perceived in the context of several formulas that were voiced as a result of the velvet non-violent revolution of 2018, but which have not received conceptual development. In particular, as Pashinyan noted, we are talking about such formulas as "Armenia is my home, the people are my family", "Grow rich and enrich", "The future of Armenia depends on one person, and that person is you", "The Motherland is the state, if you want to have a Motherland, strengthen the state", "Where the state is, there is bread, there is the Motherland." All these formulas, the prime minister continued, must be linked to the idea of a real Armenia.
Speaking about the logic of the formula "Armenia is my home, the people are my family", the head of the government pointed out that the state budget is the budget of all families, because it is formed with the participation of all citizens living in the country and engaged in labor activity. "Despite the fact that the state budget is developed by the RA government, submitting it to the RA National Assembly, the revenues of the state treasury depend on the degree of efficiency and transparency of the work of each citizen of the Republic of Armenia," Pashinyan said.
According to him, this situation is the reality according to which the state budget revenues are formed, including, through income tax. This happens for the simple reason that as of October 1, 768 thousand citizens of the country work and pay income tax. The Prime Minister also reminded that the state budget is also formed through VAT and excise tax, which are attracted through the services provided and produced by legal entities and individuals in the country. VAT and excise taxes are also generated as a result of services provided to 768 thousand citizens in the form of pension payments and family benefits.
The Prime Minister emphasized that the state budget revenues are provided by working citizens, both at the state and commercial levels. Civil servants must ensure the generation of income for companies and individuals. In other words, we are talking about the investment environment, freedoms and opportunities. For example, the education sector, which is a category of services provided by the state and state structures.
"The level of education determines whether a citizen will be able to generate work in the future and, as a result, pay taxes. First of all, I mean the laws that are adopted at the state level," the Prime Minister emphasized, adding that both personal and general well-being depend on each citizen. But this well-being becomes a goal in the presence of poverty, which brings hatred to everything related to well-being. One of the areas of well-being growth is programs to assist young families in acquiring housing.
The Prime Minister noted that hundreds of thousands of citizens of the country receive medical services at the expense of the state budget within the framework of the state order, tens of thousands receive loans, the interest on which is fully or partially compensated by the state. Tens of thousands of poor families receive state benefits from the state budget. There are even families whose members do not work anywhere, but receive state benefits.
"To be brief, there is no citizen in the country for whom expenses from the state treasury are not incurred," Pashinyan emphasized. He noted with regret that for a number of years, including recently, many citizens of Armenia see their future in emigrating from the country, having resigned themselves to the fact that it is impossible to create anything related to their well-being in the homeland. "This socio-psychological situation that has formed in the third republic creates the most serious problems. We must do everything possible so that the citizens of the country have the opportunity to enrich themselves through their legal labor, and this means the development of our state," the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia concluded.
The parliamentary committees have begun discussions on the draft state budget of Armenia for 2025. Given the GDP growth of 5.6%, the GDP deflator of 3.5% and the average inflation of 3.6%, the state budget revenues of Armenia in 2025 will grow by 279.5 billion drams - to 2 trillion 873.1 billion drams (about $ 7.4 billion), which is 11% higher than the expected figure for the previous year, and 22% higher than the actual figure for 2023. State treasury expenditures are planned at 3 trillion 482.4 billion ($ 7.8 billion) or 31.5% of GDP. The figure is 13% higher than the expectations for 2024 (30.4%), and 37% higher than the actual expenditures for 2023 (27.5%). Of the planned expenditures for next year, 2 trillion 749.2 billion drams will be current expenditures (24.9% of GDP). 733.2 billion drams ($1.88 billion) or 6.6% of GDP will be spent on non-financial operations (capital investments), which is higher than the planned figure for 2024 of 695 billion drams ($1.79 billion), and the expected 639.3 billion ($1.65 billion) - 6.3% of GDP expected by this project. According to the results of last year, capital expenditures amounted to 472.6 billion drams or 5% of GDP. The deficit in 2025 will amount to 609.4 billion drams or 5.5% of GDP, against 482.9 billion drams or 4.6% of GDP in the budget approved for the current year and 4.8% - according to this document.
