We have become the most organized state of the region in terms of statistical data. All the state bodies issue reports about their activities. All those reports remind us of “I have both good and bad news”. The last report of the RA Ministry of Finances and Economy is one of those. It has officially publicized the revenue of the first quarter of 2007. Just like in previous years, the ministry succeeded in attaining more income than what had been expended. The growth of revenue is dual digit again – about 35% percent compared to the same period of last year. About 111 billion AMD had been accessed in the state budget. Compared to last year, 858 million AMD more was collected. The share of the income tax has amounted to 9.4%. The increase of the income tax is definitely good news and good for the economy. Let’s talk about the bad news now. The main part of tax incomes is provided by indirect taxes. The main part of those still remains the VAT. Usually countries that have poor rates of tax collection have indexes like this. During one year, VAT has increased by 40%. The second problem is the excise tax. Compared to the same period of the last year, the excise tax collection decreased by 6%. Thus the weight of this type of tax keeps decreasing. On one hand it might be explained as a positive thing. It seems that the tax legislation and administration have developed so much that indirect taxes are being reduced. The official approach is quite prosaic. “Mainly this reduction is connected with the reduction of the importation of alcohol and cigarettes.” We may agree with this sad interpretation. First, it’s quite possible that the rate of the production of local cigarettes has decreased as well. The tax states that the importation has decreased as well. This fact perhaps wouldn’t encourage the initiator of the anti-tobacco commission, Hranush Hakobyan. Unfortunately the efforts of reducing cigarette smoking don’t reduce. The reduction of cigarette production and importation can have two logical reasons. It’s either connected with the high level of migration, or this sector is being taxed less. It’s quite obvious that the government will not agree with those reasons. They’d prefer to speak about the sectors that provide dual-digit growth. For example, nature protection fees have grown. Of course the dual-digit growth cannot be reconciled with certain statistical data. At least 40% growth has been registered in the construction sector. The section of expenses occupies less space in the report of the Finance Ministry. Two main facts were registered here. “The expenses of the budget have increased by 16.4% compared to the same period last year, and amounted to 13.1 billion AMD.” The second fact is more interesting. In the first quarter of the year the plans have been completed by 107.5%. This means that the government is more modest than the economy. This fact cannot be definitely considered positive or negative. During recent years, the government hasn’t piled up budgetary debts. This means that the state pays the salaries, pensions and subsidies on time. The good thing is that the government is not using the state budget on their campaign expenses. So let me repeat this phrase again, “I have both bad and good news”.
