2026 draft state budget presented by RA government consolidated  budget of failed programs - opposition MP

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.