The Ministry of Finance Will Now More Easily Collect Information on Contingent Liabilities

In our treasury system, there is a requirement that when the state undertakes a contractual obligation or an arrangement that may contain a contractual obligation, that obligation must be registered with the treasury; otherwise, it does not exist. This was stated by the Deputy Minister of Finance, chief rapporteur Avag Avanesyan, while presenting the bill at the first reading in the National Assembly.

According to the chief rapporteur, contracts containing such contingent liabilities are again subject to registration with the treasury. “Another point: if you have noticed, in the budget reports and the medium-term expenditure program, we include a report on specific fiscal risks, which is currently rated among the best in the region. However, this inclusion has always been more a demonstration of the Government's goodwill, and since we can now claim that the trial period has ended, we are now setting a requirement according to which the relevant information must always be included. This means that the relevant reports must always reflect contingent liabilities so that the National Assembly is fully informed of its fiscal-budgetary risks and makes budgetary decisions based on complete information.

We are also changing several regulations, according to which the Ministry of Finance will be able to more easily collect information on contingent liabilities and fiscal risks, thereby significantly increasing the level of fiscal transparency,” he said.