Armenia’s National Assembly has postponed consideration of proposed salary increases for senior government officials by two months, delaying pay adjustments initially planned for January 1.
The bill would raise salaries for the prime minister, president, government ministers, lawmakers, deputy ministers and other public sector employees, Factor.am reports.
The decision was made by the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs, which had been scheduled to discuss amendments to the Law on Remuneration of Persons Holding State Positions and State Service Positions.
Committee Chair Arusyak Julhakyan said further discussions were needed to revise the proposal. She also noted that the government had informed the committee that the bill’s author would not attend the meeting.
“Additional discussions have become necessary to improve the draft, and the government has informed us that its author will not participate in the meeting. Consideration of the draft is being postponed for two months,” Julhakyan announced.
Although the official explanation for the postponement is the need for further revisions, Factor.am reported that some representatives of the ruling Civil Contract party had privately suggested the delay could be the result of a political decision.
The proposed legislation provides for substantial increases in senior officials’ salaries. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s salary would rise by 68.4%, or 1.08 million drams, from approximately 1.5 million to 2.662 million drams.
The president’s salary would increase from 1.664 million to 2.662 million drams, while deputy prime ministers would receive 2.163 million drams instead of the current 1.289 million.
The largest proposed increase, 116%, concerns the prime minister’s chief of staff and government ministers, whose salaries would rise from 998,000 to 2.163 million drams.
