Armenia’s residents know how the government collects taxes, but few know how those revenues are spent. For that
reason, the Civilitas annual report Armenia in 2009: Promise and Reality, prepared a well-researched and detailed poster providing a visual explanation of Armenia’s 2010 budget.
The budget is divided into 11 fundamental categories:
- Social security – 649 mln USD
- General Public Services – 371 mln USD
- Defense – 360 mln USD
- Support to Different Economic Spheres – 300 mln USD
- Education- 265 mln USD
- Public Order, Security and Justice- 150 mln USD
- Health – 147 mln USD
- Housing and Utilities -123 mln USD
- Reserve Funds – 58 mln USD
- Sport and Culture – 43 mln USD
- Environmental Protection 16 mln USD
Those eleven categories (with the exception of the Reserve Funds) are divided into the relevant sub-categories. A careful study of the budget shows for example that the reserved funds are equal to the total funds the government intends to spend on sports, culture and the environment.
Approximately one-fourth of the budget is directed to the social security sector, which shouldn’t come as a surprise, because Armenia is an aging country with over half a million people receiving old-age pensions. In addition, due to deep poverty, thousands of families continue to receive family benefits.
Also, the huge amount spent on defense shouldn’t seem unusual, because Armenians are in fact at war with Azerbaijan, and must also compete in the arms race.
At first glance, there are also numbers that don’t seem so reasonable. For example, Armenia spends twice as much on police as on national security even as our country is surrounded by at least two hostile countries — Turkey and Azerbaijan – and with whom we share 85% of our total borders.
The poster also demonstrates that according to official forecasts, Armenia’s external debt has already reached $3,659,000,000, which is about half again as much as the budget itself.
A country’s budget reflects both its priorities and its limitations. This poster, which is available in English and Armenian, highlights both Armenia’s choices and its existing capacity.