IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO AVOID APPRECIATION OF NATIONAL CURRENCY UNDER
CONDITIONS OF RAPID ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, WORLD BANK REPRESENTATIVE
SAYS

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 14, NOYAN TAPAN. Under conditions of rapid economic
development, it is impossible to avoid appreciation of the national
currency, and as a small country Armenia has difficulty with managing
the appreciation of the dram, Shigeo Katsu, WB Regional Vice President
for Europe and Central Asia, expressed this opinion on December 14.
According to him, there are several measures (including increasing the
competition and making the economy more transparent) for dealing with
the difficult situation as a result of the dram’s appreciation.

S. Katsu pointed out the necessity of taking extra measures aimed at
extending the business environment and the investment field. In his
words, the rules of the game and the main players of the economic field
should be definite, while investors should be fully informed about it.
He said that there are still a number of problems in Armenia, and
foreign investments have consideraly contributed to their solution.
However, these investments were mainly made in some sectors of the
economy.

Nevertheless, S. Katsu positively assessed the two-digit growth of the
country’s economy. According to him, economic developments are
proceeding rapidly in Armenia and this growth is expected to continue
in the next years. He expressed an opinion that Armenia should be able
to increase its investment attractiveness not only in economy but also
in the sphere of educaion.