A regular cabinet meeting took place today, chaired by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

The government approved the bill of the Republic of Armenia "On the State Budget of the Republic of Armenia for 2024". The bill was presented by Minister of Finance Vahe Hovhannisyan. "We are approving the budget in such an environment when we have tens of thousands of displaced refugees, we must provide them with the necessary primary care, and in the medium term ensure a dignified life in the Republic of Armenia. At the moment, not having a clear idea about the number of people who want to move to Armenia, we have set a separate section in the budget for people who were deported from Nagorno-Karabakh, where we have initially planned 10 billion AMD, the size of which we will increase in the next stages of the budget discussion, if necessary."

In particular, it was noted that the rates of economic growth and activity remain high. The double-digit economic growth was maintained during this year as well. 10.5% economic growth was registered in the first quarter, and 10.4% increase in the economic activity index in January-August. Under these conditions, economic growth in 2023 is predicted within the framework of the 7% target of the government and may be more if current tendencies are maintained. We also aim to ensure 7% economic growth in 2024 and an improvement of the taxe/GDP ratio by around 0.75%, as a result of which tax revenues will amount to 2,566 billion AMD, being 342 billion AMD or 15.4% more than the tax revenues of the revised budget of 2023.

Referring to the draft state budget, Nikol Pashinyan noted that it will be discussed in more detail in the parliament. "Dear colleagues, I want to mention the data on the growth of the revenue part of our budget since 2018. In 2019, compared to 2018, the revenue part of the budget increased by approximately 400 million USD. In 2020, compared to 2018, it increased by around 800 million USD. In 2021, compared to 2018, the revenue part of the budget increased by around 556 billion AMD. Let's put it at roughly $1 billion and a little over. In 2022, compared to 2018, the revenue part increased by 794 billion AMD, which can be considered to be about 2 billion USD. In 2023, we expect approximately $3 billion more income than the budget of Armenia had in 2018. And for the planned year of 2024, which, of course, we still have to implement in 2023, revenue of about 4 billion USD more than in 2018 is expected. Basically, compared to 2018, the state budget for 2024 has more than doubled," the Prime Minister said.

Nikol Pashinyan also recorded that the task of the government for this and next year is to ensure at least 7 percent economic growth. "We also have a significant increase in capital expenditures in the 2024 budget. I think that now, with these volumes of capital expenditures, the government's expenditure efficiency has a greater impact on economic growth. In the past, the impact of government expenditure on economic growth was significantly lower, and we mainly stimulated the private sector. Now, parallel to promoting the private sector, we should pay attention to the quality of our expenditure policy, to the extent they will be implemented on time and with quality, which generates our economic growth, which has a very important economic and political significance," the Head of the Government noted.

The Government allocated money to the staffs of the regional administrations of the Republic of Armenia in order to provide funding for the urgent acquisition and purchase of essential food and non-food items for the citizens moved from Nagorno Karabakh to the Republic of Armenia. According to the substantiation, at the end of September 2023, thousands of citizens moved from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia, and in order to provide them with basic food and non-food products, it is necessary to allocate 360 million AMD from the reserve fund of the government to the staffs of the regional administrations of the Republic of Armenia to carry out the necessary expenses, of which 150 million AMD to Syunik, Vayots Dzor and Gegharkunik Province - 50 million AMD each, and the remaining 7 Provinces - 210 million AMD - 30 million AMD each. .

The government allocated 1 billion 188 million AMD for the medium repair works of 3 road sections. It is planned to finance medium repair works of 22.5 km of roads, of which interstate roads - 15.2 km, national roads - 7.3 km.