According to our information, the budget for next year will be cut down by 15-20% compared to the budget of this year. The ministry of finance has already started the process of preparing the budget of 2010. According to official predictions, this year the economic decline will reach 15-20%, and it is not excluded that in the end of the year it may be higher. Anyway the government has decided that the budget of next year should be equal to the implementation rate of the budget for this year. To note, the income part of the budget for 2009 was planned at 905 billion dram, the 15-20% of which amounts 130-180 billion dram. It means that the budget for next year will be planned at around 700-770 billion dram. In the beginning of this year the government removed the expense part of the budget equaling 131 billion dram to the fourth quarter of the year. Now it is clear that this expense will not be done, i.e. this money will not be spent by the budget. In addition, it is not excluded that till the end of the year the capacity of reduced expenses may grow. During the 7,5 months of this year the government collected taxes and dues amounting to around 300 billion dram. It is around the 40% of the planned amount. It was planned to collect 727 billion dram for the entire year. The social payments are not included in this sum. Hardly the government may be able to collect the rest 60% during the coming four months. It is worth mentioning that according to the legislation of Armenia the draft law on the budget of 2010 shall be ready and brought up in the parliament till the end of September.
