Armenian military spending to increase in line with GDP – minister

Mediamax news agency
1 Sep 06

Yerevan, 1 September: The Armenian military budget will be increasing
in parallel with its GDP growth, Defence Minister Serzh Sarkisyan said
in Yerevan today. Military spending will not be raised at the expense
of financing other spheres, he said.

The defence minister noted that Armenia’s defence expenditure amounts
to 3.5 per cent of its GDP, Mediamax reported. "It is obvious that the
bigger the Armenian economy, the bigger the budget of our armed
forces," Sarkisyan told journalists.

"We do not have any desire to increase the military budget at the
expense of the spending on education, science and culture," the
defence minister noted.