YEREVAN (Noyan Tapan)–The Armenian Parliament and the International Monetary Fund could not reach an agreement concerning the package of tax administration arrangemen’s. The IMF’s Yerevan Office reported that the package is needed to ensure a 15 percent GDP level of budget revenues in 2002.
The IMF Yerevan Office says that "Armenia cannot constantly rest upon foreign sources of funding. To maintain the present level of expenditures–the government must collect the necessary taxes." The IMF believes that the tax administration reforms must be," expanded and accelerated. "Tax liabilities must be established according to the law and not by negotiations between the Parliament and the tax-payer which leads to the loss of revenues and corruption.
Meanwhile–the IMF Yerevan Office says that in spite of the unfavorable development in the world economy in the fourth quarter of 2001–Armenia’s GDP grew by 7.5 percent in 2001.