Friday, 21 November 2008
RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan received a delegation led by head of the World Bank Armenia office Aristomene Varudakis.
Greeting the guests, the Prime Minister noted that the delegation's visit comes at the right moment as today Armenia badly needs to be supported by international financial structures, including World Bank and the IMF. He underscored that due to their support, our country was able to withstand the first tide of the global crisis. And now as the situation calls for prompt action, it will be much harder for Armenia to defy the upcoming second tide. According to the head of the Armenian government, Armenia's economics has considerably increased in volume over the past few years and call for more resources. He noted that as agreed in Washington, the financial aid due from the World Bank will be used to finance fundamental projects in the following 3 strategic areas: power engineering, drinking and irrigation water supply and road building. A portion thereof will go to such less costly sectors as education, public governance, agriculture and social investment. The expected USD 250 MN worth of extra assistance will be used to boost small and medium-size enterprise in the country.
During the meeting, the delegation members expressed their views concerning the issues discussed and spoke about the eventual developments of the global financial and economic crisis.
