TIGRAN SARGSYAN: BUDGET 2009 WILL BE EXECUTED DESPITE DIFFICULTIES
Lena Badeyan

"Radiolur"
07.07.2009 15:13

A two day international conference on the "Influence of the global
crisis on Armenia: short-term and long-term prospects" kicked off in
Yerevan today. The participants discuss the short-term and long-term
perspectives that will allow Armenia to overcome the crisis. In
attendance was RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan. He assured that
budget 2009 would be executed despite the difficulties due to loans
from international organizations.

The Government does not intend to reduce the expenditure part of the
budget, which makes 940 billion.

The Government takes steps to resist the influence of the global
crisis.

First of all, the perspectives of Armenia’s economy under the crisis
have been assessed. "We should have at least three scenarios at hand.

According to the first scenario, we’ll have a 9.5% fall. The second
predicts a 16% fall, the third one envisages a 20% decline."

This means that the budget deficit will be unprecedented. It will
be at least twice as large as that of the past years. According to
Tigran Sargsian, the main financial sources to cover the deficit of
the state budget are the loan means of the Asian Development Bank
(USD 70mln) and the World Bank (USD 60mln).

Besides those means, the government intends to spend for those
purposes 24bln=2 0AMD from the means of the Russian stabilization
loan, as well as 24bln AMD at the expense of internal funding, Tigran
Sargsian stated.

The Prime Minister informed that the largest investment for state
budget deficit redemption will be the means of the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) at the volume of USD 150mln.
From: Baghdasarian