The National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia adopted the bill on the Republic of Armenia’s 2020 state budget. Armenpress reports this.
The bill was adopted with 77 votes in favor and 37 against. After the vote, the electronic board recording the results showed 69 votes in favor, but National Assembly President Ararat Mirzoyan stated that deputies on official travel — Gayane Abrahamyan, Maria Karapetyan, Ruben Rubinyan, Arman Yeghoyan, Anna Karapetyan, Hovhannes Hovhannisyan, Mkhitar Hayrapetyan and Vladimir Vardanyan — had announced their votes in favor of the budget bill; their votes were added to those of the deputies who voted in favor.
The National Assembly’s “Bright Armenia” and “Prosperous Armenia” factions had announced that they would vote against the bill.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and members of the government were also present at the discussions held in parliament on December 5 and 6.
“Armenia’s 2020 budget bill projects 4.9 percent economic growth, which allows for manageable risks. Tax revenues next year will be 0.3 percent higher. For 2020, tax revenues are forecast at 1 trillion 602 million drams, an improvement of 0.3 percentage points. Current expenditures are expected to decrease slightly compared to this year.
It is expected that instead of this year’s 21.7 percent current expenditure-to-GDP ratio, it will be 21.5 percent. It is anticipated that in 2020 we will have a deficit indicator of 2.6 percent,” said Minister of Finance Atom Janjughazyan during the presentation of the budget bill.
