Armenia`s Ministry of Finance to check public expenditure efficiency 

ArmInfo. The Armenian Ministry of Finance believes that the "shadow economy" has significantly decreased in recent years. The head of the department, Vahe  Hovhannisyan, shared his point of view on March 19 at a meeting of  the parliamentary commission on economic issues while reporting on  the work done in 2024.

As the country's chief financier pointed out, the  administration-gap-GDP ratio has shown a tendency to consistently  decrease. Thus, according to the financial department's assessment,  compared to 6.5% in 2020, in 2021 the indicator dropped to 5.6%, in  2022 - to 4.8%, and in 2024 - to 3.9%.

Meanwhile, the public debt for 2024 increased by 6.2% - in dram  equivalent, the figure increased from 4 trillion 794.9 billion to 5  trillion 092.7 billion, in dollars by almost $997 million - to $12  billion 842.2 million. But, according to the minister, in relation to  GDP, the public debt decreased by 0.1 percentage points and amounted  to 48.3%, which .

The ratio of taxes to GDP in 2024, compared to the previous year,  decreased to 23.6% (tax revenues (tax revenues and state duties) to  the consolidated budget of the Republic of Armenia amounted to 2  trillion 390.9 billion drams, tax shortfall amounted to about 223  billion drams - ed.). At the same time, Hovhannisyan emphasized that  over the past 7 years the indicator has improved by 2.8 percentage  points.

Capital expenditures in 2024, compared to 2023, increased by 63  billion or 12.8%, reaching about 557.8 billion drams. At the same  time, capital expenditures in the social sphere and economy amounted  to 188 billion drams (an increase of 8.2%), and 226 billion drams  taking into account subvention programs.

, - the minister said, adding that  efforts are being made to improve the efficiency of government  spending.

All the necessary changes have already been made to form a unit for  assessing government expenditures within the Ministry of Finance. The  first assessment work will be carried out this year.

In addition, for the first time, the country's state budget for 2025  included the tax and budget framework for the next three years.