IMF allots $22 mln aid tranche to Armenia under three-year program

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) completed on Wednesday, June 15 the third review of Armenia's performance under a three-year arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF). The completion enables the release of about $22.01 million, bringing total disbursements under the arrangement to some $71.53 million, the IMF said in a statement.

The extended arrangement for about $115.60 million was approved on March 7, 2014.

In completing the review, the Executive Board also approved the authorities’ request for waiver of non-observance of the end of December 2015 fiscal deficit performance criterion (PC), modification of the end-June 2016 fiscal deficit and budgetary domestic lending PCs, as well as shift from a net domestic assets (NDA) PC to monetary policy consultation clause (as of end-June 2016).

Following the Executive Board's discussion on Armenia, Mitsuhiro Furusawa, Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chair, said: “The outlook remains challenging, but the risks to the program are manageable. Steadfast implementation of the agreed set of measures going forward will keep the program on track, rebuild buffers and policy space, and accelerate achieving key reform agenda objectives.”

According to him, pursuing further structural reforms to enhance competition, competitiveness, and regional and global integration remains critical to reduce vulnerabilities and support medium-term growth.