REVENUES OF 2009 STATE BUDGET PROGRAMMED TO AMOUNT TO 905.4 BILLION DRAMS AGAINST 773.9 BILLION DRAMS IN 2008

Noyan Tapan

Nov 3, 2008

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 3, NOYAN TAPAN. By the 2009 draft state budget of
the RA, the total amount of revenues, including official transfers,
are programmed to amount to 905.4 bln drams, which exceeds by 17%
the 2008 index of 773.9 bln drams. The budgetary revenues/GDP ratio
will make 21.7% in 2009 against the 2008 programed index of 21.1%.

The first deputy minister of finance Pavel Safarian said at the October
31 sitting of the NA standing committees that taxes and state duties
will make a large share of budgetary revenues – 80.2%, compulsory
social security payments will make up 14.2%, official tarnsfers 4%,
and other revenues will ensure 1.6% of annual budgetary revenues.

Taxes and state duties are programmed to make 726 bln drams in
2009 (17.4% of GDP) or by 101.2 bln drams more than in 2008. Tax
reveues were programmed by the previous years’ tax collection and the
tendencies of macroeconomic environment development (693.4 bln drams),
additional revenues expected from administrative measures (6.6 bln
drams) and refunding of surplus payments on VAT (26 bln drams).

State budgetary revenues from compulsory social security payments
were assessed at 128.4 bln drams against 104.9 bln drams in 2008. The
programmed index for this type of budgetary revenues makes up 3.08%
of GDP against 2.98% in 2008.

It is expected to receive official grants of 36.2 bln drams
from foreign states and international organizations in 2009. In
particular, it is expected to receive a 6.6 bln dram grant from the
European Commission, a 1.7 bln dram grant from KfW Bank (Germany)
for restoration of the water supply and water waste systems in Lori
and Shirak marzes, 1.4 bln drams from the EBRD for implementation of
the grant program on environmental protection of Lake Sevan, 1.7 bln
drams from the Asian Development Bank as assistance under a water
supply and water waste program, and 24.8 bln drams as other target
grants from international financial organizations and foreign states,
including 21,5 bln drams from the Millennium Challenge Fund.

According to the chairman of the State Revenue Committee adjunct to
the RA government Gagik Khachatrian, collecting reveues of the state
budget will be really hard in 2009. However, the committee has its
strategic program, by which revenues must be ensured thanks to an
economic growth and improved administration in the system. It was
stated that it is envisaged implementing structural and optimization
programs in tax and customs sectors. The work and checks in these
sectors will be done based on the "risk assessment results". "It
is inexpedient to fulfil the budget by conducting aimless checks,"
G. Khachatrian said.