Citizens Have Received Significant Financial Support in the Last Year and a Half, Says Prime Minister

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan addressed the issue of medical insurance during a question-and-answer session at the National Assembly today. He noted that there is no unified opinion within the government on this matter, and the Ministry of Health has published the concept to provoke public debate.

“Our problem is that no citizen of the Republic of Armenia should be left at the doors of a hospital. We need to solve the issue that all citizens have access to proper healthcare. There have been several discussions; at this moment, we note that there is no unified stance in the government on this issue. This is an invitation for all of us to discuss how we will solve the problem so that no citizen is left at a hospital's doors. I personally do not have a formed opinion on this matter,” he said.

The Prime Minister also announced that there has been a change in income tax, which will continue, and in at least the visible phase, the income tax will become a unified 20 percent. Pashinyan mentioned that he has a figure to publish: since January 1, 2020, in addition to the increase in the minimum wage, Armenian citizens will have between 2.5 billion to 4 billion drams of additional disposable income each month.

“I mean to emphasize the burden on citizens. In the last year and a half, citizens have received significant financial support,” he stated.

Member of the ‘Bright Armenia’ faction Arkadi Khachatryan told the Prime Minister that there has not been a significant change in the lives of people earning up to 150,000 drams, as even the reductions that should be made will be compensated by an increase in their share of cumulative payments, and they represent a predominant majority.

“For them, that 6 percent will be significant and a tangible stimulus, which will be difficult to bear at this time. I do not think the best model has been chosen,” he noted.

Pashinyan responded that no model has been selected. “Unfortunately, neither the best nor the worst model has been chosen; there is a debate. You mentioned workers earning up to 150,000 drams. A change has occurred in that segment; due to the increase in minimum wages, 130,000 people will see their wages raised starting January 1. Not all employees receiving a documented salary earn that much; many receive envelope cash. We have made this adjustment to encourage the fixing of actual salaries, after which we will have a more objective picture,” he said.