The Armenian government, taking into account the inflationary trends, plans to index pensions so that they are never lower than the minimum consumption basket.
“Armenpress”Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said this while presenting the pre-election program of the ruling “Civil Pact” party.
“In Armenia at the moment, the average pension exceeds the consumer basket, and this is a historical news, a historical change in the field of social security. Previously, we adjusted the minimum pension to the minimum food basket, which meant that the pensioner should be able to provide the minimum necessary calories for a month with this amount.
And now, after several years, including the system of retroactive pensions, we keep the average pension above the minimum consumer basket.
Of course, there will be inflationary phenomena, this is inevitable. In order for the inflation calculations of the previous period to be complete, starting from 2028, we will index pensions in such a way that pensions in Armenia are no longer lower than the minimum consumer basket. Of course, if possible, we will try to raise pensions even more,” said Pashinyan.
The Prime Minister referred to his statement, which caused heated discussions, that pensioners can now buy a ticket to Larnaca and travel with their pension.
“In recent days, my statement that our pensioners can, for example, buy a ticket to Larnaca with an increased pension, has given rise to a lot of heated discussions. It has given rise to intense discussions about how correct my expression is, now I will tell you why it is correct. Recently, when we visit marzes, many pensioners say that they used to spend 30-40 thousand drams on medicines, but now, with the availability of health insurance, these amounts remain in their pockets.
From April 1, the pension has been increased by 10 thousand drams, there is also the possibility of back payment: sometimes 5 thousand, sometimes 7 thousand, sometimes 10 thousand drams. In other words, with 20 thousand drams, you can obviously buy a ticket to Larnaca worth 3-10 euros, and the money previously spent on medicines can be spent on daily allowance and other expenses. I seriously want to call on our pensioners, contrary to those who don’t want to, to put aside the money for those medicines and start traveling, because I think that like the pensioners of many countries around the world, our pensioners can start traveling with very little, very modest volumes.
Once we pass the reverse mortgage law, our retirees can travel with much more peace of mind and confidence. And I call on our pensioners not to listen to the voices of those who don’t want to, whose presumption is that a pensioner should sit at home, and the environment of maximum movement should be the chat room in the yard,” said the Prime Minister.
