Armenia to increase defense budget by half

PanARMENIAN.Net - Lawmaker from the ruling Civil Contract party Babken Tunyan has said that Armenia's defense budget will increase "significantly", and surpass $1 billion in 2023.

"According to the draft budget for 2023, AMD 708.6 billion (some $1.75 billion) will be allocated to the field of defense, public order, security and the judiciary, against the AMD 518.6 billion (some $1.28 billion) in 2021.

"Allocations have increased by AMD 190 billion or 37%," Tunyan said on social media on Thursday, September 29. ‌ The MP also noted that the additional funding will mainly go to the defense field, as well as to ensuring public order and national security. ‌ "More specifically, the defense budget for 2023 alone will increase by 47.2% or AMD 160.7 billion. As a result, the defense budget of the Republic of Armenia will amount to AMD 501 billion 285 million (1.2 billion) in 2023.