A bill drafted by lawmakers from the main opposition Hayastan alliance would raise it from 68,000 drams ($140) to 100,000 drams per month. They say that the measure is needed to offset the increased cost of living which has hit Armenia’s low-income families particularly hard.
“The cost of the minimum consumer basket rose by 21.7 percent, to 73,400 drams, last year,” said Hayastan’s Aghvan Vartanian, the main author of the bill. "Water, gas and electricity became more expensive. Consumer prices went up by [an average of] 7.2 percent while food prices by 11.7 percent [in 2021.]”
The pro-government majority in the National Assembly refused to even include the bill on the parliament agenda. Deputies representing it said the sharp rise sought by the opposition would be premature. Babken Tunian, the chairman of the parliament committee on economic issues, said that it would reflect negatively on Armenian businesses and ultimately hurt the poor as well.
The minimum wage was most recently raised more than two years ago. Consumer prices in Armenia have risen significantly since then, largely reflecting a global trend.
A senior official said last November that the government is planning to gradually bring the minimum wage to 85,000 drams by 2026. It will “take the first steps” in that direction in 2023, he said.
According to the government’s Statistical Committee, the median monthly wage in Armenia reached 204,000 drams ($425) last year. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said last week that it has risen by about 25 percent since 2018. But he acknowledged that higher-than-projected inflation practically nullified the gain.
