FROM GLOBAL THINKING TO SPECIFIC STEPS
Gevorg Haroutyunyan

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
13 Nov 08
Armenia

The 2009 State Budget envisages incomes in the amount 927 billion
Drams, expenses – in the amount of 967 million Drams and a deficit –
in the amount of 40 billion Drams.

The ratio between the incomes of the total budget and the planned
Gross Domestic Product will presumably be around 22.2 percent.

Yesterday afternoon, Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan submitted the
draft of the 2009 State Budget to the discussion of the National
Assembly. The program of the Government served as a basis for the chief
financial document of the upcoming year. The program, already approved
by the Parliament, was elaborated in consideration of the basic clauses
of the National Security Strategy and the Strategic Program Aimed at
the Eradication of Poverty, the pre-election programs of the President
and the coalition parties, as well as the Coalition Agreement.

In his speech, Tigran Sargsyan also clarified the basic principles of
the Budget and clarified the essence of the economic policy adopted
with the purpose of overcoming the challenges of the global financial
and economic crisis.

The Prime Minister assured the participants of the session that the
Government had managed to resist the first wave of the international
financial crisis as a result of undertaking joint measures with the
World Bank. "Our task today is to resist he new waves of the economic
crisis, as they create risks for Armenia in terms of decreasing the
private transfers and direct investments and freezing the mineral-raw
industry temporarily. All this may reduce the consumption volumes,
deteriorate the payment balances and develop negative expectations
among the loan payers.

In such conditions, there emerges a new phenomenon: the participants
of the market desire to overcome the temporary difficulties on
their own; this creates more likelihood for broadening the shadow
and increases the corruption risks. All the enumerated risks bear a
direct relationship to the national security strategy of Armenia."

The Prime Ministers also introduced the way the Government is going to
ensure the macro-economic stability and the planned economic growth
and reveal additional incentives, extend the volumes of consumption
and export and enhance the payment balance. "The global financial
and economic crisis is a specific mechanism of self-regulation,
as well as a tool for bridging the enormous gap between developed
and developing countries. It essentially broadens the potentials of
developing countries and reveals their competitive advantages.

This significantly raises the country’s initiatory role in economic
processes. The pan-Armenian programs declared by the President will
essentially foster economic growth. Those programs are going to
be implemented based on the principles of both st ate and private
cooperation. They include the construction of a new nuclear power
plant, the opening of a Pan-Armenian Bank, mortgage and investment
foundations."

T. Sargsyan announced that apart from the activities envisaged
by the State Budget, the Government will take additional measures
towards mitigating the global crisis and achieving the predetermined
goals. High competitiveness and the opening of new work places will
be encouraged. There will be state guarantees for the involvement of
financial resources. Tools of subsidy will be applied as well. The
state will have its own share in the capital of the enterprises that
work in compliance with the standards of the Government.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress