20% of the expenditures of the state budget 2016 (1 trillion 373.7 bln AMD) will be spent on serving the state machine's needs. It is inexpedient and it is necessary to put an end to it, economist Vardan Bostanjyan told reporters on May 23, when commenting on Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan's statement about the need to save public funds.
He said that those who dreamt about a push-bicycle now drive luxury official cars. "The same is true about their families. This is unacceptable," Bostanjyan said with indignation.
He thinks that the public funds should be spent on social programs instead of the officials' whims - luxury cars, expensive but inefficient trips, etc. "It is time to reduce all expenditures, which are of no crucial significance to the state," Bostanjyan said.
To recall, on May 12, Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan stressed the need to save the public funds. "It is necessary to form a less cost-intensive public administration machine," he said, pointing out the need to cut the unimportant expenditures, representational expenses, repair costs, official cars, etc.
As a result, on May 19, the Armenian Government reported the decrease of official cars. David Harutyunyan, Minister-Head of the Armenian Government Staff, said the program on reduction of official cars will be implemented stage by stage. At the initial stage, the matter concerns 797 cars.