YEREVAN, September 11. /ARKA/. About 1 billion drams have been allocated in Armenia for the program to support individuals with bad loans in Armenia, RA Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Arsen Torosyan announced at a government meeting on Thursday.
He explained that almost 500 million drams of this amount were distributed in the first six months of the program’s implementation (February-July 2025), and about 525 million drams are planned to be spent in the next three months (August, September and October).
“From the start of the program until September 9, 2025, 5,715 people became beneficiaries of the program. The loans of 789 of them have already been fully repaid, 156 million drams were allocated for this. At the same time, 540 applicants dropped out due to non-compliance with the minimum wage requirements. At present, the number of active beneficiaries of the program is 4,381 people,” Torosyan noted.
According to him, 1,532 beneficiaries (or 27%) did not have formal employment in the months preceding the start of the program, that is, they were recently employed.
“The average monthly salary of one beneficiary is about 201 thousand drams, while before the start of the event this figure was 145 thousand drams. That is, the increase is 56 thousand drams (or 37%), which also allows us to talk about about (employees) coming out of the shadows,” Torosyan said.
The minister added that since the number of potential beneficiaries of the program is estimated at 218 thousand people, it cannot be said that the program has achieved its goals. “I would like to take this opportunity to ask for support from the country’s commercial banks so that they take a more proactive position. Since we do not have personal data of borrowers, it is necessary to launch an information campaign and inform citizens about the program,” Torosyan said.
Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank Hovhannes Khachatryan admitted that a more in-depth analysis of the data is needed to promote the program. “We will try to work with banks so that they more actively inform their clients. We also do not know how many of these 218 thousand people are in Armenia? Perhaps some of them do not need the program’s support, some have despaired of finding a job, some do not know about their property rights and do not expect anything from the financial system,” he explained.
About the program
“The program to stimulate economic activity of individuals with bad loans” was launched on February 1, 2025 and will last at least until January 31, 2026. It can be used by those individual borrowers whose loans have all been classified as bad for 3 or more years. At the same time, the debt on the principal debt should not exceed 1 million drams (or the equivalent in foreign currency).
Beneficiaries are provided with financial support in the amount of 100% of income tax calculated from wages and equivalent payments (including income received under civil contracts). These funds are used to pay off bad credit debt.
Support is provided for a period of no more than 24 months, starting from the first day of the month following recognition of the person as a beneficiary, but not longer than until the full repayment of the bad loan, termination of support on the grounds established by the decision, or termination of the obligation on the grounds provided by law. ($1 – 382.49 drams).
