Saturday, March 25 2023 17:26

ArmInfo.The World Bank's Board approved today a new EUR 92.3 million (US$100 million equivalent) loan for the Armenia Green, Resilient and Inclusive Development  Policy Operation (DPO). This is stated in the message of the WB.

The operation supports the 2021-26 Program of the Government of the  Republic of Armenia and is aimed at promoting green, resilient, and  inclusive development by: (i) improving the regulatory framework for  environmental management to help Armenia mitigate and adapt to the  pressures of climate change; (ii) enhancing equity and promoting  human capital development; and (iii) supporting the anti-corruption  framework and justice sector efficiency.

"This operation is a testament to the government's reform commitment  to making growth more inclusive and sustainable," said Carolin  Geginat, World Bank Country Manager for Armenia.  "The operation  supports critical reforms to support Armenia's human capital,  including the adoption of the education strategy and improving the  targeting of social assistance. For the first time, a World Bank  budget support operation in Armenia also includes reforms to support  the country in its efforts to mitigate and adapt to the increasing  pressures of climate change."  

Key reforms supported under this operation are aligned with the World  Bank's Country Partnership Framework for 2019-23. They include the  reform of the public investment management framework to ensure  systematic climate screening of public investments; revision of the  Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Atmospheric Air Protection  (AAP) laws; deployment of a new system for improved targeting of  social assistance; modernization of the education curriculum,  including for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics  (STEM) and green education and revised laws on mediation and  arbitration to enable greater efficiency in the functioning of the  justice system.

This EUR 92.3 million (US$100 million equivalent) loan is an IBRD  flexible loan with variable spread, with a 5-year grace period and a  total repayment term of 19 years. This is the first operation in a  programmatic series and is supported by parallel financing of EUR 50  million ($53.7 million) provided by the OPEC Fund for International  Development, a multilateral development finance institution  headquartered in Vienna, Austria.

Since joining the World Bank in 1992, commitments to Armenia have  totaled around $2.53 billion.

It should be reminded that the proposal to conclude a loan agreement  was approved at the meeting of the RA government on March 23. Since  Armenia joined the World Bank in 1992, the total amount of loans and  grants issued to the republic amounted to about $2.53 billion.