The Armenian government intends to spend more than $1.7 billion on defense in 2025, the country’s Finance Minister, Vahe Hovhannisyan, announced during budget talks in parliament on Monday.
Hovhannisyan explained that the new expenditure will be a 20 percent increase from this year’s budget and make up about six percent of Armenia’s gross domestic product.
He also said that Armenia is expected to register a 5.8 percent economic growth by the end of this year, but projected that the growth will slow to 5.6 percent next year.
Over the last year, Armenia has signed agreements to purchase weapons from several countries, among them France and India.
The Times of India reported on Monday that Armenia has emerged as its biggest client for “completed” weapon systems, like Akash air defense missile systems, Pinaka multi-launch rocket systems and 155mm artillery guns, among others. The same source said that France and the United States were also two other countries buying military equipment from India.
Armenia’s increased earmark for military spending does not come close to the $5 billion in defense expenditures announced by Azerbaijan earlier this month.
This large defense spending by Azerbaijan comes amid Baku’s ongoing protests over Armenia’s recent military deals with several countries, including France.
President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and high-level officials in his administration have been criticizing Yerevan for acquiring military hardware from various countries, including France and India, accusing especially Paris of arming Armenia and escalating tensions between the two neighboring countries.
Yet Aliyev has boasted about Azerbaijan’s military capabilities and the billions of dollars his government is spending to bolster its armed forces.
