The new prime minister of Armenia Hovik Abrahamyan will shortly urge high-ranking officials and parliamentarians to refuse from increase in their salaries, according to a local newspaper "168 Zham"
The paper writes that the state budget for 2014 calls to increase salaries of the government sector employees starting 1 July, however there are no relevant funds in the treasury. Furthermore, the paper writes, it is not ruled out that the prime minister will be reluctant to announce budget cuts by the end of the current year. Before that, the paper writes, Abrahamyan will urge officials and parliamentarians to refuse from salary increase and transfer these funds to the special fund for "assistance to the agricultural sector".
According to the newspaper's calculations, Abrahamyan plans to "force" 200 statesmen to refuse from salary increase saving $200,000 in total monthly. However, the paper writes, many officials and Republicans are discontented at the given initiative, as they are not sure that Abrahamyan will use these funds purposefully.