The Armenian government has decided to raise national pensions by 10 percent, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian announced on Thursday.
Pashinian said the decision stems from a three-year public spending plan adopted by the government on Wednesday. The pension increase will come into force on January 1, he told a cabinet meeting in Yerevan.
The measure will presumably be part of Armenia’s 2020 state budget that will be drafted by the government and submitted to the parliament this fall.
The average monthly amount of pensions paid to some 497,000 Armenians aged 65 and older currently stands at roughly 41,000 drams ($86). Nearly 7 percent of pensioners received as little as 16,000 per month until the government decided in November to raise the minimum pension to 25,000 drams.
The government also moved late last month to increase the minimum wage in Armenia by more than 23 percent, 68,000 drams. This increase too will take effect in January in the likely event of being approved by the parliament controlled by Pashinian’s My Step alliance. Officials say it will benefit 80,000 people.
In March, the government announced 10 percent pay rises for military personnel and schoolchildren. Pashinian said the measure was made possible by better-than-expected tax collection.
The State Revenue Committee reported on Tuesday a nearly 25 percent rise in taxes and other duties collected by it in the first half of this year.
Facebook Forum