Premier: Armenia transfers to strict budget saving measures

YEREVAN, March 12. /ARKA/. Armenian Premier Tigran Sargsyan said it is
necessary that Armenia transfers to a strict budget saving measures.

`It is necessary to save state funds and make expenditures in
proportion with out incomes as GDP indicators precipitously
deteriorated as of the end of January. We should be prepared for the
worst scenario,’ the Premier said at the government meeting Thursday.

A 0.7% economic decline was recorded in Armenia in January 2009 as
compared with the same period of last year. GDP index-deflator was
99.7% in January 2009 against January 2008.

The Premier said that currently the economic situation is uncertain in
the country and nobody knows what further developments to expect. Under
these circumstances, Armenia is turning to quarterly budgeting.

`We will be summarizing the results and planning expenditures for next
quarter on quarterly basis, the Premier said urging to take a careful
approach in making expenditures and avoid the expenses that can be
postponed.

The Premier stressed that savings approach is not to be applied to
social expenditures, pensions, benefits, salaries, and defense
expenses. This will create certain difficulties both for internal and
external operations, but they should be overcome, Sargsyan said.

He also pointed out that Armenia has no alternate way as development of
the world economic situat
ion follows not an optimistic scenario and the
forecasts given by the WB and the IMF were revised four times during
the last month.

`Nobody can provide clear forecasts today, that is why we should work
in a prompt response mode, save funds and spend only to the extent we
can collect,’ the Premier said.

Armenian Government made a decision to re-allocate the country’s state
budget for 2009 and to suspend elaboration of the mid-term spending
program for 2010-2012. N.V. `0–