The World Bank offers Armenia ways to increase the efficiency of public expenditures

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 9, ARMENPRESS. In a new analytical report, the World Bank offers Armenia ways to improve the efficiency of public spending, including those aimed at improving Armenia's fiscal performance. The report entitled Armenia Public Expenditure Review: Improving Spending Efficiency was presented by the Office of the World Bank in Armenia.

‘’Increasing cost efficiency is an extremely important goal for us. And we are taking measures in this direction together with our international partners. And we have a deep awareness of the importance of this issue, because we know that if we do not carry out significant work in this direction, then we will not be able to be competitive in the long term and ultimately achieve all our dreams,” said theMinisterofFinance of Armenia Vahe Hovhannisyan.

According to the Minister, the report is very important for the Government, it also opens up a broader perspective for a better understanding of the problems.

The report was compiled by a large team of World Bank specialists in collaboration with Armenian departments. The report refers to the improvement of cost efficiency in terms of social protection, health care, capital expenditure.

“The report is mainly designed for ministry employees and presents proposals for increasing the cost efficiency,’’ said World Bank senior economist Armine Manukyan.

The World Bank economist noted that in the health sector, for example, more money is spent on hospitals than on primary health care institutions. “This increases the overall cost. It is recommended to improve the efficiency of the primary health care system so that the funds spent on the general health sector are reduced,” she said.

The Public Expenditure Review report found that, with support for tax policy and administration reforms, tax collection has increased in Armenia. The government currently has sufficient resources to maintain spending and keep debt levels stable. The report thus makes concrete proposals for increased capital expenditures, changes to social assistance and pensions, and the introduction of comprehensive health insurance.

“I think Armenia should be proud of the reforms that have been implemented in the last few years. The Public Expenditure Review documents that Armenia's fiscal performance is showing signs of improvement. This is due to the very well-thought reforms implemented by the Armenian Government," said the Regional Director for Human Development for Europe and Central Asia of the World Bank, Michal Rutkovski.

Michal Rutkovski noted that the human capital study shows that there are many opportunities to increase the efficiency of spending in key sectors in Armenia, such as infrastructure, transport, healthcare and other sectors.

He also spoke about the crisis created in Armenia related to the people forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh. He emphasized that this is a tragedy that cannot be ignored from the point of view of cost-benefit analysis.