INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL ORGANIZATIONS CONSIDER THE ARMENIAN ANTI-CRISIS POLICY JUSTIFIED

ARMENPRESS
July 23, 2009

YEREVAN, JULY 23, ARMENPRESS: International financial organizations
consider the Armenian anti-crisis policy justified, Armenian Prime
Minister Tigran Sargsyan noted at today’s session of the Government.

According to him, the tax-budget and loan policy of the government
in the last 5 years has been restrained, which in normal conditions
is considered a literate policy. At present, in crisis conditions,
the government has passed to expansion policy, in conditions of which
the state increases its expenses and if needed involves additional
means from internal and external markets.

The Central Bank conducts extensive policy as well, which is of
anti-crisis nature, too. According to the Prime Minister, in the
result of legislative changes the threshold of budget deficit has
increased to 7, 5 %, which enables to extend the external debt.

He detailed that in 2009 and 2010 the government intends to involve 150
million USD from the International Monetary Fund, 60 million USD – from
the World Bank, 80 million USD – from the Asian Development Bank. The
involvement of financial means will be continued also during the next
year by "getting use of the exclusive possibility of low prize growth".

T. Sargsyan noted that the work of tax and custom bodies is the
hardest in these conditions, and all the state bodies in their turn
should assist them.

He said that legislatively privileges have been given to small and
medium-sized enterprises in the result of reforms conducted in tax
and custom spheres. At present there are about 32 000 entrepreneurs in
the Republic, extending activity, which doesn’t surpass the threshold
of 58 million AMD turnover, the number of the ones giving fixed pay
is about 20 000. Actually, so many people get use of the privileges.

T. Sargsyan also underscored that tendencies for tax indexes
improvement are already quite obvious.