Newspaper: Pashinyan's pledge to hike military budget proved false

During the parliamentary election campaign on November 29, 2018, Nikol Pashinyan pledged to increase Armenia's military budget by $2.5 billion over the next five years.

However, according to the Armenian daily Zhokhovurd, cited by Caliber.Az, the promise has not been fulfilled. Pashinyan's claim that the military budget had increased was deemed inaccurate as the budget had not increased as much as he had stated.

In 2018, the military budget was reported to be $524 million, with Pashinyan promising to raise it to $3 billion by 2023. However, the military budget only amounted to $1.24 billion in 2023, which is less than half of what Pashinyan had promised. Furthermore, the dollar exchange rate in 2018 was higher than in 2023, implying that the military budget increased even less than it appears.

The exchange rate in 2017-2018, when the budget was made, was 482.7 drams, while in 2022, it was 435.7 drams, indicating a difference of 47 drams. Even in 2024, the military budget is projected to increase by only 7% more than in 2023. Consequently, Pashinyan's promise was unfulfilled, and he misled the public regarding the actual increase in the military budget.