ANDRANIK MARGARIAN: AT ANY MOMENT WE CAN CONFRONT ANY INFRINGEMENT AGAINST OUR STATE

Noyan Tapan
Nov 01 2006

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 1, NOYAN TAPAN. Discussions of the 2007 draft state
budget started in the Standing Committees of the RA National Assembly
on November 1. This is the 7th annual state budget that the government
headed by the Prime Minister Andranik Matgarian has submitted to the
parliament for discussion.

According to A. Margarian, the 2007 draft state budget is a logical
continuation of the policy adopted in accordance with the action
plan that the government approved after the 2003 parliamentary
elections. The Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper has been a guideline
for the government. The prime minister said that the draft submitted
is again a socially oriented one. A growth in expenditures is envisaged
in the following spheres: social security, health, science, education,
as well as defence and national security. In the words of A. Margarian,
although the increase in financing of Armenia’s defence sector is not
sufficient compared with Azerbaijan, "given the fighting efficiency
and organizational level in our defence system, we should not be
afraid of this difference between the allocations." "At any moment
we can confront any infringement against our state," A. Margarian
assured. According to him, the government envisaged much higher rates
fot the 2007 state budget’s revenue part compared with 2006, which
"will certainly be difficult but not impossible to implement". Like
in recent years, in 2007 too, the government intends to ensure the
execution of the budget’s revenue part thanks to the fight against
corruption and shadow economy and the improvement of tax and customs
administration without raising taxes.