Tax Revenues Show Unprecedented Growth, Says Nikol Pashinyan

According to statistics from the first seven months of this year, the real GDP growth rate in the Republic of Armenia has reached 6.8% compared to the same period last year. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated this during a press conference that started in Vanadzor.

“Industry has grown by 8.4%, construction by 4.5%, trade turnover by 8.9%, services by 15.2%, and the average monthly salary by 5.9%,” the Prime Minister noted.

In the first half of 2019, tax revenues recorded an unprecedented 25% growth. “In other words, we have collected 152 billion drams more in taxes compared to the previous year,” Pashinyan detailed.

He added that since May 2018, 65,037 jobs have been created. “If we compare the 65,037 registered jobs by income tax brackets, the picture is as follows: the number of employees earning up to 150,000 drams is 11,536, those earning between 150,000 and 2 million drams is 52,874, while those earning over 2 million drams is 627. Accordingly, the segment earning between 150,000 and 2 million drams constitutes a significant majority, which is a positive indicator,” he explained.

According to confirmed data, this group of people has received 22 billion 150 million drams in wages from May of last year until August of this year. The average wage for employees in this segment is around 400,000 drams. Overall, newly registered employees have paid over 6 billion drams in income tax during this period,” Nikol Pashinyan elaborated.

The Prime Minister emphasized that mandatory contributions to the servicemen’s insurance fund in January-June 2019 exceeded the figure for January-June 2018 by 347.8 million drams or 9.6%. In the first eight months of 2019, the number of issued cash register receipts has increased by 76.4 million compared to the same period last year, which is a 38.5% increase.

According to the Prime Minister, there has been a recorded increase in trade turnover of 208.6 billion drams compared to the same period last year. In January-June 2019, 1,000 large taxpayers generated tax revenues of 511 billion drams for the state budget. In the first half of 2018, these 1,000 large taxpayers generated revenues of 446 billion drams. The increase in payments from the large taxpayers was approximately 14%, or 64 billion drams.