Armenian National Congress MP Hrand Bagratyan told reporters today in Yerevan that parliamentary talks regarding Armenia’s 2013 budget were unconstitutional since the government had merely focused on expenditures while given scant information on revenues.

“In order to cut a cake, you have to know its proportions,” Bagratyan joked.

Bagratyan said that the government isn’t focusing on revenues because it will be revealed that the large taxpayers aren’t paying any taxes and that the dying small and middle business sector is bearing the full tax burden.

Bagratyan argues that the 2013 state budget will be smaller than before if inflation is factored in.

The former prime minister said that while inflation in Armenia has stood at 34% for the past five years, wages have only risen by 20%. As a result, average citizens are doing worse off than before.