ArmInfo. The draft state budget of Armenia in 2019 is inertial in nature. Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said this on November 13 during discussions at the plenary meeting of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia on the draft state budget for 2019.
According to him, the draft state budget is based on the parameters that the new government inherited from the previous government. Nevertheless, Nikol Pashinyan continued, significant changes took place in the state budget policy. This policy can be described as a labor incentive policy, the main condition for the implementation of which should be individual efforts. "Positive changes cannot happen in society if they are not based on individual efforts," he said. Prime Minister, adding that economic growth should be understood as a general effort to change the structure of the economy. And this means the formation of real opportunities for business for each individual person.
Moreover, according to the Acting Prime Minister, it is about both political and economic opportunities. In the first case, problems have been solved - monopolies, restrictions on business and export-import operations are excluded. Now we are talking about creating conditions for entrepreneurial activity to be accessible to all ''de jure'', with ''de facto'' involvement of as many people as possible into this activity. Priorities for the new government include micro business, which will be fully exempt from all types of taxes. Citizens with annual turnover of at least 20 million drams and no more than 24 million drams(size is specified) will be exempt from their tax commitments.
Thus, Nikol Pashinyan continued, conditions will be created for the development of entrepreneurial activity in the regions of the country. Thus, Prime Minister noted, citizens will have the opportunity to earn and maintain their families. Moreover, if there are three workers at the micro-business enterprises, they will pay not a 23% income tax, but a fixed payment in the amount of 5 thousand drams.
An income tax project is also being prepared, according to which, instead of the currently used scales of 36 and 28 percent, a single scale of 23% will be applied, which should lead to the creation of new jobs and higher wages, since citizens of the country can save about 50 billion drams. This measure, Nikol Pashinyan continued, is intended to compensate for the lack of budget allocations for the growth of wages, which can be used both in the market and in the commercial banks of the country as deposits. In both cases as emphasized by the Acting Prime Minister, the funds will be channeled into the country's economy, and additional injections into the banking system should ultimately lead to lower interest rates and a more active economy.
According to the head of the Armenian government, almost 50 thousand drivers of individual taxis will be exempted from license fees, which will give them the opportunity to save 15 thousand drams in Yerevan every month, and 8 thousand drams in the provinces.
"The former government, instead of encouraging labor, encouraged poverty. Both ''de jure'' and ''de facto'', creating monopolies and preventing the emergence of new players, the authorities hampered the development of the country, paying benefits to the socially disadvantaged groups, outside of the social assistance system, not wanting to find a job for this reason. In such a situation, it was easy to solve issues related to vote buying ", Nikol Pashinyan, adding that the government will now create word for labor said.
In 2019, numerous social programs will be implemented in this direction in the country, as a result of which 85,000 socially disadvantaged citizens will receive benefits corresponding to the minimum consumer basket. As a result of innovations in the mandatory funded pension system, 206 thousand beneficiaries of the system were able to save 14 billion drams. As a result of the application of new income tax rates, the issue of raising wages for more than 200 thousand citizens of the country will be resolved. "Our task is to double, triple the number of taxpayers of private companies, the total number of which currently stands at about 350 thousand," Nikol Pashinyan stressed.