Thursday, 9 June 2011
Armenia and OFID Sign Loan Agreement
On a working visit to Vienna for attendance of the World Economic Forum on Europe and Central Asia, Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan met yesterday with OFID Director-General Suleiman Jazeer Al-Herbish at the headquarters of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Fund for International Development (OFID).
After the meeting, a loan agreement was signed between the Republic of Armenia and OFID by Armenian Finance Minister Vache Gabrielyan and OFID Director-General Suleiman Jazeer Al-Herbish. Under the newly signed arrangement, a rural asset creation program will be implemented in Armenia by the IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development).
The USD 20mn-worth facility will be used to finance farm capacity building and infrastructure rehabilitation efforts. Inhabitants of rural communities consisting chiefly of minor farmers, fruit and nuts producers and residents of high-mountain communities will be the main beneficiaries of the program. The loan has a grace period of 5 years. It will have to be repaid within 15 years applying an interest rate of 3.5%.
According to the Minister of Finance, rural poverty is the main target of this arrangement which will help promote services and build up agricultural capacity in the country.
