ACCORDING TO IMF REPRESENTATIVE, ALTHOUGH ECONOMIC CONDITIONS NOT GOOD YET, ARMENIAN ECONOMY GRADUALLY RECOVERS

NOYAN TAPAN
MAY 19, 2010
YEREVAN

The Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan received on May 19 the Head of
the Economic Mission of the International Monetary Fund to Armenia Mark
Lewis and the IMF Resident Representative to Armenia Guillermo Tolosa.

"I am glad to see you in Armenia again. I have been informed that you
had efficient and profound discussions with the government and the
Central Bank of Armenia. I know that the discussions are over, and
our government has come to an agreement with your mission regarding
a program based on specific agreements. I think that 2010 will be
quite an active year in terms of Armenia’s economic recovery, at
least the data of the first four months bears evidence of that. At
the same time, this year we should be able to work most actively in
order to continue our reforms," the president said.

M. Lewis informed the president about the agreements that the IMF
has reached with the Armenian government.

The interlocutors discussed the steps aimed at developing the Armenian
economy and the main directions of the economic policy. In the words
of M. Lewis, although the economic conditions are not good yet,
the Armenian economy is gradually recovering: the financial sector
of the country is strong, the state funds are efficiently managed,
and the amount of foreign remittances is increasing.

The press service of the RA president reported that the sides also
discussed issues related to inflation control, improvement of the
business environment, and poverty reduction.