ArmInfo. The draft 2026 state budget submitted by the Armenian government is a consolidated budget of failed programs. Artur Khachatryan, a member of the National Assembly from the opposition "Armenia" faction, stated this at a briefing in the National Assembly on November 12.
According to him, as a result of disgraceful economic policies, the country has found itself in a difficult situation. This became especially evident after the mitigation of the consequences of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, which led to a significant decline in GDP growth rates to between 5.2% and 5.4%, while the government promised to ensure annual economic growth of at least 7% under normal conditions and 9% under favorable conditions.
It is becoming clear, the oppositionist continued, that the government will not be able to achieve its targets. Moreover, there is a rapid increase in public debt, which will exceed 6 trillion drams in the next fiscal year. In 2025 alone, the national debt will exceed $15 billion. "The paradox is that the authorities are unable to calculate the impact of the national debt on the country's economy. Specifically, we are interested in the question of how much economic growth would have been if the national debt had remained at its normal level, since without taking the national debt into account, we all know the projected growth rate of 5.2% - 5.4%," Khachatryan said.
He also raised the issue of the average wage in the country. If the average wage is 300,000-306,000 drams, as the authorities claim, then it turns out that ? of the country's population earns less than the average. This is due to the polarization of society.
Bad loans also testify to the dire state of Armenian society. Khachatryan, in particular, pointed out that the country's banking system currently holds over 330,000 bad loans. Meanwhile, in 2017 (before the change of power - ed.), there were 46,000. Thus, the scale of bad loans has quadrupled in 2025, indicating the largest decline in citizens' well-being.
Khachatryan also touched on the topic of budget cuts for defense. According to him, this is consistent with RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's statement that "we will build a combat-ready, not a defensive army." The MP recalled the RA government's strategy until 2050, according to which "it was planned to create one of the most combat-ready armies in the world, per capita."
The opposition leader also raised the issue of Artsakh. He recalled Pashinyan's claims that Artsakh is a fake. That same day, according to the MP, this statement was accompanied by a demand from the Azerbaijani prosecutor to impose severe penalties, including life imprisonment, on the former NKR leaders.
Recall that the previous day, the Armenian National Assembly concluded its discussions on the 2026 draft state budget. According to the regulations, a four-day break has now been declared for the submission of proposals and comments. According to the draft, Armenia's GDP is projected to grow by 5.4% in 2026, reaching 11 trillion 934 billion drams. State budget revenues are expected to amount to 3 trillion 91 billion drams, of which tax revenues will amount to 2 trillion 973 billion drams. Improvements in tax administration, the fight against the shadow economy, and the implementation of tax policy measures are expected to improve the tax-to-GDP ratio by 0.4 percentage points. State budget expenditures are planned at 3 trillion 628 billion drams, of which 2 trillion 924 billion drams are current expenditures and 704 billion drams are capital expenditures. These expenditures will account for 5.9% of the gross domestic product. Accordingly, expenditures will amount to 30.4% of GDP, which is 0.8 percentage points less than the expected figure for 2025. The state budget deficit is projected at 537 billion drams.
