YEREVAN, December 1. /ARKA/. The Armenian government has approved on Thursday a set of changes to its draft 2017 budget, proposed by finance minister Vardan Aramyan.

According to the minister, the spending will be cut by 16.1 billion drams, of which 13 billion drams are VAT overpayment, 1.1 billion drams are capital expenditure, 327.4 million drams will be saved due to lower gas prices and 295 million drams due to the reduction of the state apparatus (several project implementation offices will be shut down).

According to Aramyan, additional 8 billion drams will be added to the government's reserve fund, another additional 1.9 billion drams will be allocated for major repairs of Arpa – Sevan tunnel. The government’s co-financing of foreign loans and grants will be increased by 2.1 billion drams and another additional 590 million are earmarked for construction of housing in the disaster zone (northern Armenia hit by powerful earthquake in 1988).

Aramyan noted that 334 proposals were put forward during the budget debates in parliament. There were suggestions to increase revenue by about 97 billion drams and the spending by 84.3 billion drams, he said.

"The budget should be balanced, and the spending must comply with revenue," - Aramyan said.
The draft state budget calls for 1 trillion 210 billion drams in revenue and 1 trillion 135 billion drams in spending. The projected budget deficit is 150 billion drams. ($ 1 - 480.20 drams). -0-