Nikol Pashinyan: Former power instead of encouraging work, encouraged  poverty

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.