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On September 29, the RA NA Budgetary Office jointly with the RA NA Standing Committee on Financial-Credit and Budgetary Affairs, with the support of the programme Public Financing Management in South Caucasus of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH (German Federal Enterprise for International Cooperation) organized debates on the sphere of public finance management on The Role of Parliament in the Budgetary Cycle .

The RA NA deputies, experts of the NA Budgetary Office and the NA Standing Committees, representatives of the RA Control Chamber and international organizations, NGOs and mass media took part in the event.

The goal of the event was to find out the changes in the budgetary sphere conditioned by the RA new Constitution in order the parliament gets its reserved authorities.

The Director of the GIZ Office Armenia, the Head of the Regional Programme Public Finance Management (PFM) in the South Caucasus Anne Kempa and the Chair of the RA NA Standing Committee on Financial-Credit and Budgetary Affairs and the international expert of the Public Finance Management, the former Deputy Finance Minister of Federal Germany Gerd Ehlers delivered welcoming speeches. They talked particularly about the role of parliament in the budgetary cycle. In this context the German side presented the leading experience of different lands of Germany and the approaches that the Armenian side wants to use in the Armenian Parliament. Gagik Minasyan considered necessary to strengthen the role of the Budgetary Office in the budgetary process. Highlighting the more efficient use of the budgetary means, Mr Minasyan has informed that it is designed to have a Public Finance Sub-Committee, the main function of which should be the reduction of the possibilities of non-efficient use of public finances.

The international expert of the Public Finance Management Gerd Ehlers has noted that the German Parliament has very big authorities in the budgetary process. He has underlined that, according to analyses, the Bundestag is one of the parliaments that, to great extent, takes part in the process of budget formation. The expert has informed that the Committees of the parliament actively debate the draft budget for two months, and the Budgetary Committee presents recommendations on the amendments and in that form submits the draft at plenary sitting. Mr Ehlers also touched upon the activities of the Sub-Committee which checks accounts considered to be Sub-Committee of the Budgetary Committee and debates the reports of the Control Chamber. The expert highlighted the presentation of the viewpoints not only on the bills, but also considered necessary to be consistent after passing them.

Those who delivered speeches answered the participants’ questions.