IMF approves another disbursement of $51.43 mln to Armenia

Interfax, Russia
Dec 11 2012

IMF approves another disbursement of $51.43 mln to Armenia

YEREVAN. Dec 11

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has
approved the provision of a sixth disbursement of $51.43 million (33.5
million SDR) to Armenia under a program supported by Extended Fund
Facility (EFF) and Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangements, the
IMF Resident Representative in Armenia Guillermo Tolosa said at a
Tuesday press conference.

The Executive Board finished up its fifth review of Armenia’s economic
performance under a program supported by EFF and ECF arrangements on
December 10. The sixth disbursement will bring total disbursements
under the arrangements to about $324.4 million (211.8 million SDR), he
said.

“Armenia’s economy has continued to recover from the deep recession
experienced in 2008-09 in the context of the global financial crisis.
Growth accelerated in 2012, and is expected to be around potential in
2013. Nonetheless, vulnerabilities remain, particularly due to the
large current account deficit and high degree of dollarization in the
banking sector,” Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chair of the
Executive Board Nemat Shafik is quoted as saying in an IMF press
release from December 10 and repeated by Tolosa at the press
conference.

The IMF’s Executive Board approved the three-year SDR 266.8 million
(about $408.7 million) EFF and ECF arrangements with Armenia on June
28, 2010. At that time, the IMF made the first disbursement of $81.5
million (36.2 million SDR) to Armenia.

At the end of October, Armenian Finance Minister Vache Gabrielyan said
that the country’s economy would grow by around 7% this year, and
inflation “would really be below 4%.”

Armenia’s 2012 budget indicates GDP growth of 4.2%.

Last year, the Armenian economy grew 4.6%. Inflation was 4.7%,
compared to 9.4% in 2010.

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