Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan attended today the annual meeting of the Belgium and the Netherlands-led subgroup of International Monetary Fund and World Bank, which is being held in Dilijan.
In his welcoming speech the Prime Minister said that meetings like this can serve as a good platform for effective cooperation, as well as for finding solutions to the problems facing the member countries, and went on to stress that there is still huge untapped potential in this respect.
Referring to the activities of the group led by Belgium and the Netherlands, Karen Karapetyan said. “I want to state that the long-standing cooperation with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank and our joint work within the Group have been quite productive and constructive for the past many years. I can confidently say that owing to the support and constructive cooperation provided by the IMF over the past 25 years, we were able to implement successful fiscal and monetary policies in our countries to achieve stability for the macroeconomic environment, which is an important prerequisite for development and inclusive economic growth.
Our collaborative relationship with the World Bank is of paramount importance to us. The instruments provided by the World Bank Group’s institutions have gone a long way toward funding infrastructure, social, educational, health and other key projects, ensuring not only economic growth but also development and progress.
It should also be noted that even though the countries in our group differ in their economic structures and development rates, but the challenges coming from the global economy are typical of all. Therefore, it is important for the forum to discuss such solutions as would necessitate joint efforts and might be applicable in our countries.”
According to the Head of the Armenian Government, the recent years’ economic developments forced the national economies into turbulences that came from the outer world, leading to significant increases in the amount of public indebtedness in the majority of countries, including Armenia.
“The latter calls for fiscal consolidation that will take us back to a sustainable debt environment without endangering macroeconomic stability, which is a key prerequisite for investment. However, fiscal consolidation, in turn, has a price, which consists in the restrictions imposed on economic growth at the expense of public sector. Therefore, the problem may be addressed by providing the private sector with extended support tools on the part of international financial institutions in parallel to the structural reforms implemented by the governments. This should be done in a swift and harmonious manner. Here, the programs of the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency could have a valuable role to play in terms of increasing the private sector funding, as well as designing and implementing public-private partnership-based projects. Therefore, I would like to draw everyone’s attention to this issue as I believe that it can become an agenda item for further discussion,” Karen Karapetyan pointed out.
Karen Karapetyan attached importance not only to the solution of global macroeconomic problems through exchange of ideas and experience, but also to the understanding and assessment of member countries’ economic benefits and opportunities. The Prime Minister expressed conviction that unity and joint efforts will make them more powerful and purposeful on the way to dealing with the existing challenges.
“These meetings provide a good platform in this respect. For instance, on one hand, Armenia is located at the intersection of Europe and Asia and, on the other hand, being a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, it offers better doing business conditions as compared to other EAEU-member nations. We boast good partnership ties with the European Union and benefit from the GSP + preferential trade regime. Therefore, our country’s economic and geographical position and its membership of the Eurasian Economic Union could be effectively used to build up comprehensive economic and trade relationships with other countries,” Karen Karapetyan said.
The Premier also spoke about the prospects of Armenia’s economic development and the steps taken in this direction. “Armenia’s economic policy is aimed at attracting investment and promoting export-driven economic growth. We have set the goal to create a favorable investment climate through deep reforms by gradually enhancing our country’s competitiveness. In parallel to the ongoing reforms, Armenia’s economic policies are aimed at deepening international economic relations and cooperation in different formats where a significant role is reserved to the IMF and World Bank,” Karen Karapetyan said, wishing the forum effective and fruitful work.