"My Preferred Threshold is Zero". Atom Janjughazyan Opposes Arsen Torosyan's Initiative

The Minister of Finance of Armenia, Atom Janjughazyan, opposes the initiative of Minister of Health Arsen Torosyan concerning universal healthcare coverage and the establishment of a 6% healthcare tax. During a meeting with journalists today, he articulated why the financial bloc, including the Central Bank, is against this initiative.

Janjughazyan recalled that amendments to the tax code have reduced direct taxes, particularly the income tax, and continued, "The concept of reducing the burden of direct taxes is based on the logic that it will provide the operator with additional opportunities, allowing them to invest the freed resources and generate added value."

When asked what he considers to be the optimal threshold for the healthcare tax, Janjughazyan responded, "The Ministry of Finance's preferred threshold is zero, not 3% or 6%. We are not very confident that the proposed path will yield those results without losses. Such regulations, in a broad sense, will turn into a system of complete state funding for healthcare. At least in our region, that model has existed and it is difficult to assess it as the most successful. Essentially, it turns out that the state fully assumes the financing of healthcare, which could be viewed as problematic from a quality perspective."

The video is available on NEWS.am.