Finance Minister of Armenia Vahe Hovhannisyan presented the assistance programs envisaged under the 2024 State Budget for the forcibly displaced persons of Nagorno-Karabakh.
"Of course, the policy pursued by Azerbaijan made the criminal intent to carry out [Armenian] ethnic cleansing [in Nagorno-Karabakh] obvious, but the forced displacement of 100 thousand people in such a short period of time was really unexpected," said Hovhannisyan.
The finance minister added that thanks to the high rate of the collection of revenues and the formation of the necessary reserves in Armenia, it became possible to fund the proper organizing of the providing of accommodation for and the provision of primary assistance to the Armenians who were forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh.
Hovhannisyan said during the Parliament session that the budget envisages AMD 50,000 ($125) for each forcibly displaced person for accommodation and utility expenses for January, February and March.
“The additional expenditures for pensions and benefits, requiring additional AMD 30 billion ($75 million), are envisaged. The additional expenditures for education and healthcare are also envisaged. At this moment the apartment and employment assistance programs are not envisaged under the budget because they could be developed and confirmed in the end of December. Nevertheless, significant amounts will be envisaged in the reserve fund in order not to have financial issues as soon as the programs are finalized,” Hovhannisyan said.
