Armenia`s government rejects "Hayastan" faction`s proposal to set minimum pension at cost of monthly food basket

ArmInfo. On March 13, the Armenian government turned down a social legislative put forth by the opposition  "Hayastan" parliamentary faction. The proposed aimed to ensure that  starting from January 1, 2026, the minimum pension could not be less than the monthly cost of the food basket, and the average labor pension would not be lower than the monthly cost of the consumer basket.

As the authors of the initiative noted,  project aimed  to provide a relatively comfortable life for the elderly, disabled and those who have lost a breadwinner by enhancing the predictability of pension policy. In response, the Armenian government recalled that a strategic goal has been set within its  program for 2021- 2026   to equalize the minimum pension and average pension by 2026 based on the cost of food and consumer baskets.

 It is noted that as of July 1, 2023,  the minimum pension has already exceeded the cost of the food basket calculated according to the World Bank's methodology. While there are no planned pension increases in 2025, the government will continue to provide refunds to pensioners for non-cash transactions, with the maximum amount  set at 12% and 6,000 drams per month ( starting from September 1, 2024), instead of 10% and 5,000 drams per month. In January 2025, the average refund amount for non-cash transactions was 3853 drams.