Members of Government Make Extraordinary Speeches During Debate of State Budget for 2023, Point of View of Armenia Faction Presented
“The RA state budget for 2023 is based on 4 priorities: security system, infrastructure, social support system, modernization of education and science,” the RA Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan noted during the debate of the RA state budget for 2023 on November 16.
In his speech, the Deputy Prime Minister referred to the main reforms that are implemented in the field of expenditure and income policy within the framework of cooperation with international development partners. Mher Grigoryan stressed that the implemented programs do not primarily aim to attract financing, but promote structural institutional reforms and improve the efficiency of revenues and expenditures in the directions set as priorities by the RA Government program.
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Mher Grigoryan presented the ongoing works with international development partners, in particular, the key reforms planned within the framework of the signed or in the process of being signed system programs, which will have a direct impact on the budget process and the implementation of the 2023 budget.
“The proportional and stable development of all RA settlements is of key importance for the Government. It is planned to allocate more than 99 billion AMD for the purpose of carrying out the territorial development program in 2023,” the RA Deputy Prime Minister Hambardzum Matevosyan noted in his speech.
According to the Deputy Prime Minister, the process of providing subsidies aimed at the development of the economic and social infrastructure of the communities will continue in 2023. It is planned to allocate 22 billion AMD of subsidies to the communities in 2023 in order to co-finance 30-80% of the total cost of subsidy programs.
Hambardzum Matevosyan informed that the process of collecting subsidy programs for 2023 has already started, as a result of which 459 preliminary applications for subsidies with a total cost of 112.7 billion AMD were received from the communities.
In his extraordinary speech, the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Narek Mkrtchyan noted that according to the budget for 2023, 648.5 billion AMD is planned for the expenses of the social sphere, 68.7 billion AMD more than last year. Referring to the changes and improvements planned in the program for the improvement of the demographic situation, the Minister noted that they correspond to the action plan of the 2021-2026 Action Plan of the RA Government.
“250 billion 30 million AMD are planned for the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports according to the RA 2023 budget, which is 23.5 billion AMD more than the approved budget of 2022,” the RA Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Vahram Dumanyan during the debate of the draft law on the RA State Budget for 2023. The Minister referred to the program events in the field of science, the work to be carried out in the fields of culture and sports.
The Minister of Health Anahit Avanesyan informed that they will continue the programs aimed at the reform and development of the sphere outlined by the Government program, focusing on three priorities: transformation of the primary health care system, improvement of the quality of medical care and increase of access to services. The budget will be 146.4 billion AMD. The 2023 budget is 21.5 billion AMD more than the adjusted budget for 2021. The current expenditures will be 134.7 billion AMD, the capital expenditures – 11.7 billion AMD.
“334.6 billion AMD will be allocated to the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure for 2023, of which only 203 billion AMD or 61% are capital programs. 298 billion AMD is planned only for expenditures. This number is 24.4 billion AMD more than the indicator of 2022,” the Minister Gnel Sanosyan informed about this.
The deputy Artur Khachatryan presented the position of the Armenia Faction on the state budget for 2023 in his speech. He related to the expenditure articles of the 2023 state budget program and their priorities, criticizing the policy of the Government on this issue. The deputy also spoke about consumer goods inflation and economic growth. According to the opposition deputy, the “economic boom” recorded in the republic in the current year is caused by the work of tens of thousands of Russian citizens who temporarily arrived in Armenia due to the Russian-Ukrainian war, and not by the economic policy of the Government.
The state budget for 2023 is not realistic for the Armenia alliance, and accordingly, unacceptable,” the deputy stressed, concluding his speech.
National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia
