YEREVAN, OCTOBER 27, NOYAN TAPAN. In 2008 the RA ministry of finance made an assessment of financial management of the state government system by 28 internationally accepted standards, the purpose of which is to prepare for a program-based budgeting in Armenia starting from 2011. While presenting the expenditure items of the state government system's financing of the draft law on the 2009 state budget, the RA deputy minister of finance Pavel Safarian said at the National Assembly on October 27 that in case of program budgeting, more attention should be paid to achieving program indices in the respective spheres as compared with the financing of state government institutions. According to him, this week the RA ministry of finance will submit a program of reforms of the financial management system to the government. It is envisaged submitting the program to the National Assembly in 2009. In the words of P. Safarian, "a vital decision for the country should be be made because it is envisaged passing from the line item principle of budgeting to the program budgeting, within the framework of which changes will be made in the RA laws on the budget and depositary systems and on audit". It was stated that the 2009 budget is actually a program one by about 80%. The deputy minister said that the introduction of program budgeting "is proceeding quite smoothly in Armenia as no department has displayed intolerance during the reforms". P. Safarian noted that due to some objective circumstances, the RA ministry of defence, the police and the National Security Council either have not introduced program budgeting or have just started its introduction. He explained that there are problems (not only in Armenia) with assessment of these sectors with non-financial indices, which is related to the absence of theoretical bases for organizing the indicated processes.

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