“Relatively low pensions will increase by 10,000 drams ($26), relatively high pensions will increase by less,” Pashinian said in a video message.
He did not give further details of the measure that will take effect on April 1. Labor and Social Affairs Minister Arsen Torosian clarified later in the day that the 10,000-dram increase will apply to “basic” retirement benefits currently set at 24,000 drams per month. The average pension in Armenia stands at 49,000 drams ($128) at present.
The Armenian government most recently raised pensions in 2022. It consistently rejected opposition demands to increase them further in the following years. Pashinian personally argued against doing that last year.
“If we raise the pensions by 11,000 drams or 10,400 drams per month, what will a pensioner do [with that money?]” he said on December 5.
That statement caused outrage among many pensioners struggling to make ends meet. Adding to their anger, the government continued to pay massive bonuses to ministers, their deputies and other senior officials.
Pashinian said on Wednesday that the pension rise is first and foremost the result of faster-than-expected economic growth recorded last year. Opposition leaders and other critics dismissed that explanation, saying that the prime minister hopes to garner more votes among the country’s nearly 600,000 pensioners in the elections scheduled for June 7. Gegham Manukian, a parliament deputy from the opposition Hayastan alliance, described the pension rise as a “vote bribe.”
Another major opposition force led by billionaire Samvel Karapetian claimed credit for Pashinian’s about-face. Karapetian’s nephew and right-hand man Narek, who coordinates the day-to-day activities of the newly formed Strong Armenia party, again criticized the government’s reluctance to raise the pensions when he spoke to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on Tuesday.
“If Samvel Karapetian forced them to increase the pensions before the elections, can you imagine what he will do if he becomes prime minister?” Narek Karapetian said on Wednesday in a social media post that followed Pashinian’s announcement.
Pashinian’s Civil Contract party has signaled in recent days concerns about the electoral chances of the opposition forces led by Karapetian, former President Robert Kocharian and another wealthy businessman, Gagik Tsarukian. Some of their senior members and supporters claim the surprise pension rise is a further sign that Pashinian is afraid of losing the upcoming elections.
Gevorg Papoyan, the economy minister and a senior ruling party figure, denied any connection between the measure and the vote. Like Pashinian, he insisted that it was made possible by a 7.2 percent increase in Armenia’s GDP registered in 2025.
Papoyan suggested that the higher pensions, not envisaged by the Armenian state budget for 2026, will require an estimated 75 billion drams ($197 million) in additional government spending. He said the government will tap its “reserve fund” for that purpose.