MP BAGRATYAN DECLARES 2013 BUDGET UNCONSTITUTIONAL
Grisha Balasanyan

hetq
15:36, November 14, 2012

Armenian National Congress MP Hrand Bagratyan told reporters today
in Yerevan that parliamentary talks regarding Armenia's 2013 budget
were unconstitutional since the government had merely focused on
expenditures while given scant information on revenues.

"In order to cut a cake, you have to know its proportions," Bagratyan
joked.

Bagratyan said that the government isn't focusing on revenues because
it will be revealed that the large taxpayers aren't paying any taxes
and that the dying small and middle business sector is bearing the
full tax burden.

Bagratyan argues that the 2013 state budget will be smaller than
before if inflation is factored in.

The former prime minister said that while inflation in Armenia has
stood at 34% for the past five years, wages have only risen by 20%. As
a result, average citizens are doing worse off than before.