WORLD BANK APPROVES FIRST FAST TRACK ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
The FINANCIAL
Feb 27 2009
Georgia
The FINANCIAL — Armenia and the Democratic Republic of Congo have
become the first two countries benefitting from a special fast track
facility set up by the World Bank Group to help the world’s poorest
countries cope with the impact of the financial crisis.
The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors has approved a package of
three operations totaling $35 million for Armenia and a $100 million
for the Democratic Republic of Congo, from the fast track facility,
amid clear signs poor people in both countries are suffering from
the crisis.
"Armenia’s economy has already been hard hit through slower
direct investments, falls in remittances and commodity prices,
with unemployment now rising," said the Bank’s Managing Director,
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. "This illustrates the clear case for the fast
tracking of funding for local works and projects which can provide
jobs this year."
Remittances, estimated at US$1.6 billion estimated in 2008, accounted
for nearly 20 percent of Armenia’s GDP and are expected to decline
sharply this year. The Bank has revised downwards the country’s GDP
growth from double digit rates over the past decade to near zero
in 2009.
The $35 million for Armenia will help to create some 280,000 job days
of employment in rural areas from road rehabilitation and investments
in small-scale infrastructure.
"We’re already seeing the financial crisis taking a heavy toll on
the poor in these countries. It’s the poor who will be hit hardest
by this crisis and that only serves to highlight the obvious need
to speed up assistance to help those who’ve lost their jobs or face
uncertain times," Okonjo-Iweala said.
Job losses have also been evident in the Democratic Republic of Congo
due to cutbacks in the mining sector and slower investment activity. In
mining areas around Katanga, the closure of small mines and cutbacks
in larger operations has seen an estimated 200,000 people lose their
jobs, with 1 million people indirectly affected.
A sharp slowdown in growth in the DRC is now expected this year,
with growth prospects further undermined by renewed security risks
in the eastern part of the country.
The $100 million emergency grant from the International Development
Association (IDA) Financial Crisis Response Fast Track Facility
will help finance short term costs of importing essential goods and
commodities, paying salaries of teachers in primary and secondary
schools and the state water and electricity bills.
The IDA Fast Track Facility for the world’s poorest countries has been
created with the aim of speeding up grants and long-term, interest-free
loans to fund infrastructure, education, health and social safety nets.
The facility is expected to fast track an initial $2 billion of IDA 15
resources, which provides US$42 billion to 78 of the world’s poorest
countries over the next three years.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
