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On October 30, at the joint sitting of the standing committees of the National Assembly, the debate of the draft RA law on the State Budget of the Republic of Armenia for 2024 began.

Giving a speech, the RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan noted that this year as well the budget debate is taking place in a tense regional and international environment. “This is not new for us, and in the last 3 years, of course, we debated the draft of the next year's budget under conditions of tension of varying degrees. The international situation has significantly worsened in the last 2 years, the possibility of a nuclear war has become a serious topic of discussion among international and political figures. We are living in the conditions of the collapse of the world order set on earth since the end of the Cold War. This situation creates serious threats for the Republic of Armenia, but competent management of these threats can create equally serious opportunities for our state,” Nikol Pashinyan said. The Prime Minister considered it important to underline that in order to manage the threats, we first need to carry out intellectual conceptual work, the main objective of which is self-realization, the analysis of the key aspects of our 32-year statehood, state life. “What is independence for us, what is our collective perception of sovereignty and independence, what tool is the statehood for us and what purpose do we need it to serve? These are questions, the political, expert, public discussion of which is the national security agenda,” the Head of the executive body noted.

The Prime Minister mentioned that the three main principles of peace and normalization of relations with Azerbaijan have been agreed upon. “If the parties remain faithful to those agreed principles, the signing of a peace and relations settlement treaty becomes realistic.”

Referring to Armenia-Turkey relations, the Prime Minister noted. “I want to express my hope that in the near future we will have the implementation of the agreements reached as a result of the discussions of the special representatives, which refers to the following: Armenia-Turkey border is opened for the citizens of third countries and the holders of diplomatic passports at this stage.”

In the environment of threats and security challenges, Nikol Pashinyan considered macroeconomic stability as an important achievement, which was possible to maintain during the war, the internal political instability, and the pandemic. According to the Prime Minister, for the second year in a row, Armenia continues to remain in the environment of high economic growth. “We expect at least 7% economic growth this year, the inflation environment is stable.”

The Head of the Government, touching upon the provision of state support to forcibly displaced persons from Nagorno-Karabakh, noted that around 54 billion AMD has been allocated, of which 16 billion AMD has been spent by now. Part of the money will be spent by the 2024 state budget.

Referring to the financial indicators, the Prime Minister made several records. In terms of the revenue part of the 2024 budget, the RA budget more than doubles compared to 2018. The revenue part of the planned budget for 2024 is 105% more than the planned budget for 2018. There are significant increases in a number of key areas.

Compared to 2018, capital expenditures in 2024 will increase by 310% or 537 billion AMD. It is planned to have at least 500 km of repaired or renovated road in the financial year, serious progress has been recorded in the construction of the North-South road.

Budget expenditures in 2024 in the field of defense more than double, increasing by 125%, compared to 2018. “For us, the reforms of our army and our armed forces are of primary importance. I should underscore that such a dynamic of defense spending does not in any way contradict our declared peace agenda, because having combat-ready armed forces is the legitimate right of every state,” Nikol Pashinyan said.

The Prime Minister spoke in detail about the reforms taking place in the fields of education, general education, police, social protection, health care, financial allocations, building schools and kindergartens, teacher certification, implementation of the Academic City project, etc.

“Our main goal is for people in the Republic of Armenia to live, to be free, to have not only the right to create and be happy, but also a feasible opportunity. In this regard, the main and key issue is security, both external and internal. Creating both security and the opportunity to create, to live prosperously and happily in a free democratic society is the key goal and benchmark of the RA Government, with the understanding that the citizens themselves should have the opportunity to ensure their happiness and well-being by working and creating. As a result of our collective efforts, together we should be able to ensure the external and internal security of the RA and its citizens. I want to say that security is usually or more often perceived as armament, army and so on. No country has ever been able to provide security with the army alone, and will never be able to provide security, if effective security approaches, concepts and ideology are not placed at the foundation of the state,” the RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan concluded his speech.