Monday, 26 June 2017
Statement by Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan, delivered during the discussion of the annual report “On Execution of 2016 State Budget of the Republic of Armenia” at the joint session of NA Standing Committees
Dear Colleagues,
As prescribed by the legislation of the Republic of Armenia, the Government is submitting the annual report “On Execution of 2016 State Budget of the Republic of Armenia.”
The National Assembly has proposed quite a hectic schedule of parliamentary debates that will first of all focus on the macroeconomic environment, in which the budget was executed, the primary vectors and the main results of the Government’s economic and social policies, as well as the per-sector exercise results.
As you may know, the Government is making consistent efforts to introduce the practice of program budgeting, which implies that both the budget programs and the performance reports should be drafted based on the actual results.
In other words, greater attention will have to be paid to the targets met rather than to how much funds have been spent during the exercise. Therefore, during the per-sector discussions we will try to abide by this very logic in a bid to hold meaningful debates.
The Minister of Finance will give details of the annual results and the actions implemented under the Government’s fiscal policy in 2016. To build a solid groundwork for sustainable economic development, in 2016 we started and will continue to hold discussions, which have already been reflected in the recently approved Government Program, the medium-term expenditure program and the State budget bill.
I am hopeful that we are in for a constructive debate, the results of which will be taken into account by the Government while drafting the short-term and medium-term expenditure programs, which will undoubtedly lead to increased efficiency in the management of public funds.
Thanking you in advance, I wish you fruitful budget discussions.
