Yerevan November 29
Naira Badalian. On November 29, the Government of Armenia approved the legislative initiative of the Ministry of Labor and on Social Affairs to raise the minimum pension to the threshold of food poverty of 25,500 drams. The government will amend the law "On State Pensions", following which starting from January 1, 2019, the minimum pension will rise immediately by 60% – from 16,000 to 25,500 drams.
As stated in the brief description of the bill, the purpose of the presented document is "overcoming extreme (food) poverty among pensioners". It is noted that according to the data of December 2017, in 2016, the threshold of food poverty in Armenia was 23,313 drams. As expected, in 2019, taking into account the 3% annual inflation, the figure will reach 25,500 drams. According to the document, as of June 1, 2019, the number of pensioners in Armenia will be 497,394 people, of whom 463,069 people will receive a retirement pension, 32,420 more will receive recipients of pensions through the power structures and 1905 military retirees.
Considering the abovementioned, the Armenian government proposed to introduce a new instrument in the state pension system – "the size of the minimum pension". "This tool will make it possible to make a more targeted policy in the area of retirees receiving a low pension," the document says. The authority to establish the minimum pension payments is proposed to be transferred to the RA government. "According to calculations carried out within the framework of budget processes, from January 1, 2019, the minimum pension is provided at the level of 25,500 (at the level of extreme poverty). If the project is approved, according to the RA Law on State Pensions, the pension lower than the minimum pension level from 1 January, 2019 will be paid in the amount of the minimum pension payments. It is noted that the corresponding funds are provided for by the program of medium-term expenditures of Armenia for 2019- 2021.
As of November 2017, according to the data of the Social Security Service of the Ministry of Social Affairs of Armenia, 524 thousand 485 pensioners are registered in the Republic of Armenia, of which 460 thousand receive a retirement pension (basic pension is 16 thousand drams, plus allowances for seniority – 800 drams for the first 10 years and 500 for the next) and 64 thousand pensioners receive an insurance old-age pension of 16 thousand drams. The concept and statistical calculation of the "minimum food basket" in the country was abolished in the late 2000s.