ArmInfo.In 2026, Armenia will reduce appropriations to the Ministry of Defense by approximately 15.2% - from 664.7 billion drams to 563 billion drams (approximately $1.5 billion), as noted in the statement to the draft state budget for the upcoming year, approved today during a Cabinet meeting.
According to the document, expenditures on ensuring Armenia's defense in 2026, particularly, maintaining combat readiness to ensure the strategic deployment of the Armed Forces and ensuring the protection of state borders from external enemies, will amount to 560. 98 million drams (approximately $1.46 billion). Meanwhile, defense spending is projected to total 664.7 billion drams (approximately $1.73 billion) this year, exceeding the defense spending set in the 2024 state budget by 20%. Overall, state treasury spending on defense, security, public order, and judicial activities will be reduced by 102.2 billion drams (approximately $267 million) next year. As a result, funding for these areas will total 813.2 billion drams (approximately $2.12 billion). In 2025, this figure was 915.4 billion drams, and in 2024, 776.9 billion drams.
In 2026, Armenia's state budget expenditures will increase by 5%, rising from 3 trillion 441.6 billion drams, allocated for 2025, to 3 trillion 628 billion drams. Of this, current expenditures will amount to 2 trillion 924 billion drams (2 trillion 706.8 billion drams in 2025), and 704 billion drams will be allocated for capital expenditures (or 5.9% of GDP, versus 6.6% or 734.9 billion drams, allocated in the 2025 state budget).
