ARMENIA TO GET $500 MLN LOAN FROM RUSSIA
Forbes
Feb 10 2009
NY
YEREVAN, Feb 10 (Reuters) – Russia will allocate a $500 million
stabilisation loan to Armenia, its strategic partner in South Caucasus,
to help counter the impact of the global crisis, Armenia’s Finance
Ministry said on Tuesday.
The ministry said in a statement the two countries signed a preliminary
agreement on disbursement of the loan for 15 years with a four-year
grace period.
The ex-Soviet state had enjoyed strong economic performance in the
past few years, but the authorities were forced to take steps after
GDP growth halved to 7.2 percent in the first 11 months of 2008 from
13.6 percent in the same period the year before.
Its central bank has slashed rates by 75 basis points in the last
two months and the IMF approved a three-year, $13.6 million loan
programme in November to support Armenia’s economy through to 2011.
Armenia is also negotiating with the World Bank, the Asian Development
Bank, the EBRD and Black Sea Trade and Development Bank to secure
a stabilisation loan worth a total of $525 million to be used to
support Armenian businesses hurt by the crisis, particularly small
and medium-sized enterprises.
Russian firms control a significant chunk of the economy, and Armenia
is likely to feel the impact of its much larger neighbour sliding
into its first recession in a decade.
Russia promised aid and credits worth billions of dollars to other
former Soviet states of Kyrgyzstan and Belarus earlier this month.