ARMENIA IN TALKS WITH WORLD BANK ON LOAN TO COVER BUDGET DEFICIT

Interfax
May 14 2009
Russia

Armenia is in talks with the World Bank on a loan to cover the 2009
budget deficit, the director of the World Bank’s representation in
Armenia, Aristomene Varoudakis, told journalists on Wednesday.

The talks are ongoing he said. The World Bank board of governors will
consider the loan at a meeting in July.

He did not specify the loan amount.

The loan would provide a safety net for the most vulnerable segments
of the population, he said. The World Bank forecasts that 27.2% of
Armenians will be living below the poverty line in 2009, up from 22.7%
in 2008.

The World Bank and the Armenian government are also discussing economic
development scenarios in the coming years. The World Bank tentatively
forecasts that the economic situation will begin to normalize in 2010,
he said.