The bill at the same time commits the government to cutting the budget deficit through an even sharper rise in its tax revenues.
It was backed 65 parliamentarians, all of them members of the ruling Civil Contract party, and rejected by 19 others.
Overall public spending is to total almost 2.2 trillion drams ($4.4 billion) in 2022. Social security will remain the single largest recipient of public funds, with almost 580 billion drams allocated for that purpose.
Another 346.5 billion drams is to be spent on road construction and other capital projects, a year-on-year rise of almost 49 percent.
The government also pledged to increase its defense spending by 11 percent to 345.4 billion drams ($700 million).
The main opposition Hayastan bloc, whose parliamentary group voted against the budget, said this increase is not big enough given the “existential” security challenges facing Armenia after last year’s war with Azerbaijan.
Hayastan also questioned the choice of capital projects to be financed in 2022, saying that the government has not come up with any calculations substantiating their necessity and efficiency.
Deputies from the bloc led by former President Robert Kocharian also deplored the fact that the 2022 budget does not call for increases in the minimum wage, most pensions and public sector salaries.
The government is not planning to raise them despite significant rises in the prices of key goods observed this year. According to its Statistical Committee, consumer price inflation in Armenia reached 9.1 percent in October.
The budgetary targets are based on the assumption that the Armenian economy will grow by 7 percent next year. Opposition politicians and some economists say that this growth projection is not realistic.
The economy shrunk by 7.6 percent last year due to negative effects of the coronavirus pandemic compounded by the six-week war. It returned to growth this spring.