Pensions: no 1,000-dram rise in January as the funeral allowance stays untouched
- Published
- Place
- Yerevan, Armenia
- Event date
- Past event —
Summary
Armenian pensioners will not receive the extra 1,000 drams promised for 1 January 2027. The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs confirmed it on 9 November after dropping its reform of the funeral allowance. The two measures were linked: money saved on that benefit was meant to fund the rise in the minimum pension. The plan, announced in September by Nikol Pashinyan, would have limited the 200,000-dram allowance, about $550, to socially vulnerable families. After a backlash, Minister Arsen Torosyan backed down: the current rules stay in force. On Wednesday 11 November, Finance Minister Vahe Hovhannisyan closed the door: there is no extra money for pensions in the 2027 budget. The minimum pension therefore stays at 46,000 drams a month.
A thousand drams is a little under three dollars. Not life-changing. But it was a promise. It falls with the reform that was meant to pay for it.
On 9 November Arsen Torosyan announced that the rules for paying the funeral allowance would not change. The draft law put up for public consultation will not be sent to parliament. Ministry spokesman Nver Kostanyan then drew the conclusion: “no additional budgetary resources will be freed up”, so there will be no pension rise on 1 January.
A 200,000-dram benefit the government wanted to target
Today a one-off allowance of 200,000 drams is paid on the death of a pensioner or a social benefit recipient. The government wanted to restrict it, from January 2027, to socially vulnerable families. In return, the minimum pension was to rise by 1,000 drams.
According to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service, the plan drew strong opposition from opposition parties and the public. The ministry confirmed to the outlet that the two measures formed a single package. One could not go without the other.
“There are no additional funds”
Speaking to reporters in parliament on Wednesday, Vahe Hovhannisyan was blunt. “There are no additional funds for increasing pensions. All resources have been calculated within the deficit and revenue patterns that we have planned for 2027,” he said. He called the decision “logical”.
The 2027 budget, now before parliament, already earmarks about 674 billion drams for pensions. That is more than the Defence Ministry, which gets 616.5 billion.
A 10,000-dram rise before the elections
The last increase came on 1 April 2026: 10,000 drams more, two months before the June parliamentary elections. The opposition called it an electoral ploy, which the ruling party denies. The minimum pension stands at 46,000 drams, about $127 a month.
Analysis
The government retreated on the funeral allowance, and pensioners pick up the bill. That is the cost of a mechanism in which a social increase depends on savings elsewhere. The retreat was probably politically unavoidable: touching a benefit paid at a time of grief goes down badly, especially in a country where many families count every dram. But it leaves the feeling of a promise that has vanished. The timing does not help: according to RFE/RL, the decision comes as senior officials and MPs prepare to receive substantial pay rises criticised by the opposition.
Possible consequences
The funeral allowance continues under the current rules. No rise in the minimum pension is planned for 1 January 2027. The 2027 budget still has to be adopted by parliament.
