YEREVAN, OCTOBER 31, NOYAN TAPAN. By the 2008 draft state budget, expenditures on recreation, culture and religion (without expenditures on the central staff of state governance bodies) will make 14.6 bln drams against 16.1 bln drams in 2007. The reduction in these expenditures is mainly conditioned by the completion of a number of programs, as well as by a reduction of expenditures on capital major repairs and construction and some one-off expenditures in 2007. At the same time, an increase of about 1.1 bln drams (about 3.33 mln USD) is envisaged in expenditures in the indicated sectors, mainly due to an increase in salaries of cultural workers, as well as to new initiatives and additional expenditures. The RA minister of culture Hasmik Poghosian stated at the October 31 joint sitting of the RA NA standing committees that in forming the budget of the sphere of culture, the government was guided by several principles, paying special attention to a number of target programs, including those on marz (regional) culture development, national art and esthetic education. Attention will also be paid to repairs and technical re-equipment of libraries with the aim of creating powerful information centers. The state budget envisages about 500 mln drams for repairs and design of libraries. Under this program, the repair and re-equipment work will be completed at 3 libraries in Yerevan: the children's library after Khnko Aper, the Public Library and the Musicological Library, and at 10 libraries in Armenian marzes.

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