December 8, the sitting of the Artsakh NA Standing Committee on Budget, Financial and Economic Management was called to which State Minister, Ruben Vardanyan, was also invited.

The issues of making an addition to the law "On the Republic of Artsakh State Budget 2023" and "On the Remuneration of Persons Holding State Positions" were discussed.

The draft of the "Republic of Artsakh State Budget 2023" was presented by the Minister of Finance and Economy, Vahram Baghdasaryan. He noted that the project was developed taking into account the plan of the President of the Republic of Artsakh on the objectives of the 2020-2025 and the provisions of the medium-term state expenditure plan of the Republic of Artsakh for 2023-2025.

The indicators of the 2023 state budget are as follows:

Own revenues of the state budget are planned in the amount of 49 billion 850 million AMD, which is 4 billion 295.9 million AMD or 9.4 percent more than the planned revenues for 2022. Among them, tax revenues and state duties will amount to 49.0 billion drams or 8.9 percent more than the planned revenues for the current year, as a result of which the forecast "Taxes/GDP" ratio will be 16.0 percent.

The expenses of the 2023 state budget are planned in the amount of 215 billion 171.4 million AMD, which decreased by about 2.7 percent from the expenses planned in the current year's state budget (compared to 221,035.2 million AMD in 2022). The level of expenditures in the GDP will be 69.1 percent, compared to 77.5 percent of the current year. As a result, the deficit will amount to 21 billion 321.4 million AMD, which will be financed at the expense of borrowed funds.

For 2023, the volume of the forecasted gross domestic product will be 311.5 billion AMD. The growth will be about 5.0 percent, in the case of a projected 4.0 percent deflator.

The amount of the budget loan in 2023 will be 144.0 billion AMD.

The MPs emphasized in their speeches, that this year the budget discussions were more passive because the project is subject to change in connection with the formation of the new government.   They drew the attention of the State Minister to the fact that the parliamentary recommendations are accepted by the government, they come into being but to a lesser extent.

National Assembly President Artur Tovmasyan urged to cooperate with the parliament while drawing up the new budget, using the expert potential of the National Assembly. He spoke about the features of the post-war budget, emphasizing the need to maintain social orientation. "If we did not implement these social programs, many of our compatriots would take the path of alienation," he said.

NA President, Artur Tovmasyan, urged to cooperate with the parliament in drawing up a new budget, using the expert potential of the National Assembly. He spoke about the features of the post-war budget, emphasizing the need to maintain a social orientation. "If we had not implemented these social programs, many of our compatriots would have taken the path of alienation," he said.

State Minister Ruben Vardanyan answered the MPs' questions. They were mainly related to the new budget, the formation of the government, the programs to be implemented and inflation.

The State Minister said that the new government will be formed at the beginning of January and the revised budget version will be ready in February. He emphasized that the new budget should be realistic: based on the development programs, the reforms to be carried out will require additional costs; the restructuring of the state system is expected.

The Standing Committee on Budget, Financial and Economic Management of the National Assembly of Artsakh voted in favor of both the draft budget, as well as to the project on making an addition to the law "On Remuneration of Persons Occupying State Positions".