YEREVAN, November 6. / ARKA /. The Armenian government collected 785.6 billion drams in revenue in the first nine months (100.1 percent of the projected amount) and spent 709.8 billion (91.6 percent of the projected amount), the ministry of finance said.

It said 94.4% of revenues (741.6 billion drams, 18 percent rise year-on-year) generated from taxes and state dues, 4.9 % were collected from other sources of income and 0.7 % came as official grants.

The ministry attributed the growth in tax revenue to increased VAT collection rate and changes in tax legislation, introduced in 2013, which replaced income tax and mandatory social insurance payments by a single flat tax.

The spending growth rate increased by 7.5% (49.5 billion drams) from 3.7 % (23.4 billion drams) in the first nine months last year, mainly due to higher operating costs.

Current expenditure in the first nine months amounted to 659.4 billion drams, 94% of the planned spending. In comparison with January-September last year, operating expenses increased by 7.9 % or 48.1 billion drams, the ministry said. As a result, the available funds increased by 24.4 billion drams instead of the planned 41.6 billion drams.

The government has projected to collect this year 1.32.7 trillion drams in revenue and use 1.52.5 trillion drams in spending. ($ 1 - 405.77 drams). -0 -