Publications Armenia's 2010 State Budget
Armenia's 2010 State Budget
Armenia’s residents know how the government collects taxes, but few know how those revenues are spent. For that reason, the Civilitas annual report Armenia in 2009: Promise and Reality, prepared a well-researched and detailed poster providing a visual explanation of Armenia’s 2010 budget.The budget is divided into 11 fundamental categories:
- Social security – 649 mln USD
- General Public Services – 371 mln USD
- Defense – 360 mln USD
- Support to Different Economic Spheres – 300 mln USD
- Education- 265 mln USD
- Public Order, Security and Justice- 150 mln USD
- Health – 147 mln USD
- Housing and Utilities -123 mln USD
- Reserve Funds – 58 mln USD
- Sport and Culture – 43 mln USD
- Environmental Protection 16 mln USD
Those eleven categories (with the exception of the Reserve Funds) are divided into the relevant sub-categories. A careful study of the budget shows for example that the reserved funds are equal to the total funds the government intends to spend on sports, culture and the environment.
Approximately one-fourth of the budget is directed to the social security sector, which shouldn’t come as a surprise, because Armenia is an aging country with over half a million people receiving old-age pensions. In addition, due to deep poverty, thousands of families continue to receive family benefits.
Also, the huge amount spent on defense shouldn’t seem unusual, because Armenians are in fact at war with Azerbaijan, and must also compete in the arms race.
At first glance, there are also numbers that don’t seem so reasonable. For example, Armenia spends twice as much on police as on national security even as our country is surrounded by at least two hostile countries -- Turkey and Azerbaijan – and with whom we share 85% of our total borders.
The poster also demonstrates that according to official forecasts, Armenia’s external debt has already reached $3,659,000,000, which is about half again as much as the budget itself.
A country’s budget reflects both its priorities and its limitations. This poster, which is available in English and Armenian, highlights both Armenia’s choices and its existing capacity.
Our previous question was: "Do you believe that free elections (one where even an incumbent can be defeated) can change a country?" Opinions were mostly divided. Of those who answered the question, 53% thought that such elections could bring positive change to the country; 43% thought they could not. Around 4% did not have an answer. |
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Sharistan Melkonian is a director at the Armenian Volunteer Corps (AVC), a non-profit that helps skilled Armenian Diasporans come to Armenia to work and live, while at the same time, helping them transition from one society into another by facilitating their placements into schools, non-profit organizations, churches, and the business sector. |
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Vartan Oskanian's interview with Gala TV in the city of Gyumri regarding Armenia-Turkey relations, Nagorno Karabakh, and Armenia's economy.
DAIRY PRODUCTION ENHANCEMENT
The objective of the project is to contribute to the overall improvement of dairy production practices in Armenia by providing machinery to dairy farmers for increasing their productivity and income and improving their living standards.
The objective of the project is to contribute to the overall improvement of dairy production practices in Armenia by providing machinery to dairy farmers for increasing their productivity and income and improving their living standards.
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