Pashinyan’s government has no additional money to raise pensions in 2027, Finance Minister Vahe Hovhannisyan declared on November 11, even as the administration pursues a salary increase package for state officials that would cost more than 25 billion drams ($70 million) annually.
The admission follows the cancellation of a proposed pension increase of just 1,000 drams ($2.80) per month, which the administration had planned to finance by cutting funeral benefits for Armenian families.
Under the proposal, the existing 200,000-dram ($560) funeral allowance would have been restricted primarily to socially vulnerable families, with the savings redirected toward pension increases.
Following public backlash, Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Arsen Torosyan announced on November 9 that the cuts would be withdrawn. The promised pension increase was canceled along with them.
Hovhannisyan defended the decision, insisting that no additional funds were available under the planned 2027 budget.
The explanation stands in sharp contrast to the administration’s plans for senior officials.
As 301 previously reported, Pashinyan’s government approved a proposal that would raise Nikol Pashinyan’s monthly salary to approximately 2.6 million drams ($7,260), ministers’ salaries to nearly 2 million drams ($5,590), and lawmakers’ salaries from 832,000 to around 1.4 million drams ($3,910).
The package, which still requires parliamentary approval, would cost more than 25 billion drams annually, with performance-based bonuses continuing alongside the higher salaries.
Meanwhile, Armenia’s minimum monthly pension stands at just 46,000 drams ($129). Even the canceled 1,000-dram increase would have amounted to approximately 2.2%, less than the projected 3% inflation rate for 2027.
The decision is not an isolated reduction in social support. As 301 reported in October, Pashinyan’s government also approved cutting monthly assistance for vulnerable Armenians forcibly displaced from Artsakh by 50%, from 30,000 to 15,000 drams, beginning in April 2027.
The contrast exposes the administration’s spending priorities: billions are being sought for higher salaries for state officials, while vulnerable displaced Armenians face reduced assistance and pensioners are denied even a minimal increase.
Pashinyan’s government was prepared to increase pensions only by taking money from funeral benefits. When that proposal collapsed, so did the pension increase. No alternative funding has been identified.
