Government Boosts Spending With 2003 Budget Savings
By Atom Markarian 11/06/2004 12:13
Radio Free Europe, Czech Rep
June 11 2004
The Armenian government unveiled on Thursday plans for a nearly 4
percent increase in public spending this year which will be financed
with resources saved up during the implementation of its 2003 budget.
Ministers decided to seek parliament approval for raising the projected
2004 expenditures by 12 billion drams to almost 330 billion drams ($580
million). The measure would mark the first-ever growth of the Armenian
state budget mid-way through a fiscal year. Officials said the extra
money was largely freed by Armenia’s debt settlement agreements with
Russia and Turkmenistan which reduced the amount of funds set aside
for external debt servicing last year. They said the government also
economized on state procurements.
According to Finance and Economy Minister Vartan Khachatrian, most of
the additional expenditures, 7 billion drams, will be channeled into
the construction and repair of secondary schools across the country.
The rest of the money will be spent on the reconstruction of the
country’s northwestern regions still reeling from the 1988 earthquake
and improving supplies of water and natural gas in rural areas.
Government spending, which is still too small to meet Armenia’s
socioeconomic needs, will be further boosted with a new $20 million
budgetary loan which the World Bank is expected to disburse in
October. The money will likely be included in the state budget for
next year, though.
Khachatrian revealed that the Armenian government would like to
receive within the next five years $700 million in assistance from
the United States under Washington’s Millennium Challenge Account
(MCA) program of promoting political and economic reforms around the
world. He said Yerevan expects to secure $100 million as early as this
year and to invest it in education, health care and social services.
“We want to focus on direct investments in the economy, especially
in the rural areas,” Khachatrian told reporters.
Armenia is among 16 developing nations of the world that were
recently selected by the U.S. to be eligible for the additional aid.
Its allocation and amounts will depend on specific proposals to be made
by their governments. The top executives of the Millennium Challenge
Corporation, which is administering the scheme, visited Yerevan last
week to discuss ways of using the potential extra aid with government
officials and civil society representatives.
Senior officials from the U.S. State Department have made it clear
that the Armenian authorities must also improve their “poor” human
rights record if they are to benefit from the MCA.