Armenian parliament approves 2025 budget with increased defence, social spending

The Armenian parliament has approved the state budget for 2025, with 61 MPs in support and 30, mostly from opposition parties, voting against it, while no MPs abstained.

Under the approved budget, Armenia's projected revenues for 2025 are set at 2 trillion 873 billion drams (approximately $7.4 billion), which represents an 11% increase over the expected figures for 2024, Caliber.Az reports via Armenian media.

Expenditures will amount to 3 trillion 42 billion drams ($7.8 billion), a rise of 13% compared to this year.

The national debt is forecast to grow by 877 billion drams by the end of 2025, reaching 5 trillion 914 billion drams (around $13.97 billion). As a percentage of GDP, the national debt will rise from 49.8% to 53.5%. The cost of servicing the debt will increase by 14%, reaching 394.1 billion drams ($1.015 billion).

Defence spending will see a notable increase of 20%, reaching 665 billion drams ($1.713 billion). Significant rises are also expected in other sectors. For instance, the budget for the Ministry of High-Tech Industry will nearly double, growing by 90% to 47.5 billion drams ($122 million).

The Ministry of Internal Affairs will see a 15% increase in funding, reaching 105 billion drams ($270 million), while the Ministry of Finance's budget will rise by 13%, to 399.4 billion drams ($1.029 billion). The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs will receive a 14% boost, reaching 905.7 billion drams ($2.334 billion).

This includes a significant increase in support for mortgage payments for internally displaced people from Nagorno-Karabakh, with funding rising almost 3.5 times to 7.1 billion drams ($18.2 million).

Some areas of the budget will see cuts. Healthcare spending is set to decrease by 3%, dropping to 163 billion drams ($420 million), primarily due to the completion of several programmes under universal health insurance. 

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport will see a 4.7% increase in funding, totalling 363 billion drams ($935 million).

By Aghakazim Guliyev