Government Sets Target: Raise Defense Spending To 4 Percent Of GDP By 2020

Finance Minister Vardan Aramyan has announced that the Armenian government intends to boost defense spending by US$52 million to US$54 million annually starting in 2018, reports Interfax-AVN (Russia).

The goal is to reach defense spending equivalent to 4 percent of gross domestic product by 2020, Aramyan told reporters on Monday in Yerevan.

The 2017 defense budget is US$449.5 million, or 3.71 percent of GDP, the minister said.

"We have always emphasized the priority of...