YEREVAN, November 12. /ARKA/. Armenia’s 2026 state budget expenditures will amount to 3.63 trillion drams, revenues to 3.09 trillion drams, and a deficit to 537 billion drams, or 4.5% of GDP, said Finance Minister Vahe Hovhannisyan during a discussion of the 2026 draft state budget in parliament on Wednesday.
According to him, 2.9 trillion drams of the expenditures are for current expenditures, while 724 billion drams are for capital expenditures. Tax revenues account for 2.97 trillion drams of the revenue structure.
Speaking about the budget deficit, the minister said that its ratio to GDP will decrease in the medium term, compared to 5.5% in 2025, while the debt burden will remain at 2.8%.
“Our goal is to consistently reduce the budget deficit and keep the public debt within a stable and manageable range, maintaining it within a corridor close to 50% in the medium term,” Hovhannisyan noted.
Noting the implementation of programs to increase economic potential with an emphasis on infrastructure and human capital development, the head of the Ministry of Finance noted that reducing the budget deficit and stimulating long-term economic growth are not in conflict with each other.
“On the contrary, a fiscal policy that promotes balanced, prudent macroeconomic stability helps increase the country’s resilience and credit rating, while expanding the foundations for generating growth for the private sector,” he said.
He assured that the country’s debt policy is stable, predictable, and responsible.
The draft state budget of Armenia for 2026 projects revenue to GDP at 25.9%, tax revenue at 24.9%, expenditure at 30.4%, and capital expenditure at 5.9%.
Hovhannisyan previously stated that, given the projected exchange rate of the Armenian dram, the public debt to GDP ratio will stabilize in the 50-60% range in the medium term. Specifically, the Ministry of Finance projects the figure to reach 54%, with a downward trend in the coming years.
According to the Armenian Statistics Committee, Armenia’s total public debt as of September 30, 2025, amounted to $14.2 billion. Of the total debt, $6.9 billion is external debt, and $7.3 billion is domestic debt. ($1 = 382.52 drams)
