Citing a continuing “strong macroeconomic performance,” the World Bank announced on Friday the release of a fresh $20 million loan to Armenia
Published:
21 November 2004 y., Sunday
Citing a continuing “strong macroeconomic performance,” the World Bank announced on Friday the release of a fresh $20 million loan to Armenia that will be used for financing its government’s budget deficit.
An agreement on the disbursement of the “poverty reduction support credit” (PRSC) was signed by Finance Minister Vartan Khachatrian and the head of the World Bank’s Yerevan office, Roger Robinson. It followed a meeting of the bank’s governing board in Washington late on Wednesday.
The board’s decision also paved the way for the release of a $5 million budgetary grant to Armenian from the government of Holland.
“The project will assist the government to implement the ambitious Poverty Reduction Strategy over the coming years,” Saumya Mitra, a senior World Bank official, said in a separate statement. “It will also support the government’s drive to improve the quality in the delivery of essential public services.”
The PRSC is aimed, among other things, at “sharpening competition and entrenching property rights” in Armenia, the statement said. The credit is part of the World Bank’s new “country assistance strategy” approved last summer. Yerevan is expected to get up to $220 million in loans under the four-year program. It has already borrowed more than $800 million from the bank since independence.
World Bank loans and donor grants have been the main source of deficit-funding for the Armenian government and the next year will be no exception. The government’s 2005 budget deficit is projected at 47 billion drams ($94 million).
Robinson endorsed the main parameters of the draft budget, singling out a planned major increase in government expenditures on education, health care and social services. The government wants to spend more on education than defense.
Šaltinis:
armenialiberty.org
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
The financial and economic crisis has shown that reckless behaviour of banks and other financial institutions can have serious and costly consequences for Europe's economy and its people.
more »
Local services that create jobs and improve energy efficiency received a boost Thursday (2 September) when MEPs on the Industry, Research and Energy Committee approved plans for more investment.
more »
The European Commission approved the first financing decisions under the EUR 264 million 2010 allocation for the so-called Vulnerability FLEX mechanism to help the most vulnerable African, Caribbean and Pacific countries cope with the impact of the global financial crisis and economic downturn.
more »
The European Commission has today updated the list of airlines banned in the European Union to impose an operating ban on one air carrier from Ghana and to place operating restrictions on another air carrier from that country.
more »
The European Commission today approved an application from Denmark for assistance under the European Globalisation adjustment Fund (EGF).
more »
Algirdas Šemeta, EU Commissioner for Taxation, Customs Union, Anti-Fraud and Audit, will open tomorrow an international conference at the Shanghai World Expo 2010 on building bridges to facilitate trade between China and the EU.
more »
Moldova is set to receive an EU grant of up to €90 million to help it through the financial crisis, following a vote at Parliament's Committee on International Trade on Monday.
more »
Important notice: since May 2010 business surveys data are classified in accordance with an updated version of the Nomenclature of Economic Activities (NACE rev. 2) causing a potential break in series at this date.
more »
75% of Europeans think that stronger coordination of economic and financial policies among EU Member States would be effective in fighting the economic crisis, according to the Spring 2010 Eurobarometer, the bi-annual opinion poll organised by the EU.
more »
The European Commission has extended until the end of the year the liquidity support scheme for banks in Slovenia.
more »