World Bank to allocate 220m dollars to Armenia in 2004-2007

World Bank to allocate 220m dollars to Armenia in 2004-2007

Mediamax news agency
11 Jun 04

Yerevan, 11 June: The board of directors of the World Bank (WB)
has approved the Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) for Armenia for
2004-2007.

The head of the external relations department of the WB’s Yerevan
office, Vigen Sarkisyan, said today that the WB will allocate
220m dollars to Armenia under this strategy. He noted that this
is conditioned by the fact that at present Armenia is developing
according to the high case scenario.

Vigen Sarkisyan pointed out that according to the assessment of the
International Development Association, Armenia’s macroeconomic figures
and the level of fulfilment of WB’s requirements by Armenia are the
best among CIS countries. Despite this, he said, there are still
unsettled tasks in Armenia concerning the continuation of reforms
and development of the economy.

The Country Assistance Strategy for Armenia for 2004-2007 is based
on three directions. First, WB funds will be directed to increase
the share of small and medium-sized businesses in the GDP structure.

The second direction is the influence of the economic growth on
poverty reduction. The third direction is poverty reduction in the
regions of Armenia, the modernization of the health and education
systems and the building of the heating system.