Armenian parliament approves 2012 budget project

The Armenian parliament approved the budget project for 2012 today, ARKA reports.

The project received 66 votes for and 2 against. The Heritage Fraction and Dashnaktsutyun did not attend the session.

The budget of 2012 will have income of 911.6 billion drams, expenses of 1044.1 billion drams, deficit – 132.5 billion drams. 732 billion drams is tax income.

The parliament also passed a package of bills worth about 100 billion drams. Luxury tax will be introduced for vehicles worth over $90,000, taxing of alcohol drinks will increase by 50%, income tax for individuals with income of 2 million drams or more will reach 25%, fixed casino payments will be increased by 50%.
Income will increase by 7% to 852.4 billion drams, expenses by 43.1 billion drams, compared with 2011. 897.5 billion of expenses belongs to current expenses, 148.412 billion drams – non-financial assets.
46.2% of finances will be spent on the social sphere, 19.8% for security, 13.2% for economy, 4.5% for state debt service, 3.1% for communities, 2% for formation of the reserve fund.

The GDP is expected to increase by 3.1%, compared with 3.95% in 2011 and 4.98% in 2010. The consolidated budget of 2012 will have 938.5 billion drams of income (excluding payments from non-budget transfers), 1071 billion drams of expenses and a deficit of 132.5 billion drams. Community budgets will have an income of 93.7 billion drams and expenses of 93.7 billion drams.

The GDP in 2012 should stay at 4.2%, inflation is expected at 4% (±1,5%).
$1 = 383.62 drams.