Tweet
Global Insight
May 13, 2011
Armenian PM Calls to Limit World Bank Credit Loans for Technical Assistance
BYLINE: Lilit Gevorgyan
During a cabinet meeting on 12 May, Armenian prime minister Tigran
Sarkisian instructed his ministers to suspend the use of World Bank
credit loans for technical assistance. He called instead for the
involvement of the Armenian experts and wider employment of their
skills and knowledge. Sarkisian clarified that the government should
use the World Bank's expertise through grant programmes only in
exceptional cases. He argued that thus far, "the legislative and
regulatory projects that we order to the foreign experts at the
expense of credit funds do not find subsequent application. We do not
get sufficient results from the consultation, reporting and
professional advice either." Sarkisian did not explain why the
legislative and regulatory projects did not find a subsequent
application.
Significance:Since gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991,
Armenia has been closely co-operating with international donors such
as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF). Their
financial assistance has been coupled with technical expert level
advice as the South Caucasian country made the transition from the
Soviet-style economic and state structure to an open market. Foreign
expert advice benefited the country during the initial stages of the
transition, but the grants and loans have also increased Armenia's
foreign debt. Armenia has managed to go through difficult structural
reforms since then. Most importantly, the number of Armenian experts
has grown significantly in recent years. Many of them have Western
education and experience of working with inter-governmental
organisations. For historic reasons, Armenia has a 6-7 million strong
diaspora. Most of them live in Western countries and since Armenia's
independence some of them have volunteered to provide their expertise
to the Armenian government at no or competitive cost. Thanks to
widespread scholarship programmes, the number of Armenian citizens
with Western graduate and research levels of education has also grown.
Using Armenian experts will not only be cheaper for the government,
but will also provide jobs for local professionals.
From: A. Papazian
May 13, 2011
Armenian PM Calls to Limit World Bank Credit Loans for Technical Assistance
BYLINE: Lilit Gevorgyan
During a cabinet meeting on 12 May, Armenian prime minister Tigran
Sarkisian instructed his ministers to suspend the use of World Bank
credit loans for technical assistance. He called instead for the
involvement of the Armenian experts and wider employment of their
skills and knowledge. Sarkisian clarified that the government should
use the World Bank's expertise through grant programmes only in
exceptional cases. He argued that thus far, "the legislative and
regulatory projects that we order to the foreign experts at the
expense of credit funds do not find subsequent application. We do not
get sufficient results from the consultation, reporting and
professional advice either." Sarkisian did not explain why the
legislative and regulatory projects did not find a subsequent
application.
Significance:Since gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991,
Armenia has been closely co-operating with international donors such
as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF). Their
financial assistance has been coupled with technical expert level
advice as the South Caucasian country made the transition from the
Soviet-style economic and state structure to an open market. Foreign
expert advice benefited the country during the initial stages of the
transition, but the grants and loans have also increased Armenia's
foreign debt. Armenia has managed to go through difficult structural
reforms since then. Most importantly, the number of Armenian experts
has grown significantly in recent years. Many of them have Western
education and experience of working with inter-governmental
organisations. For historic reasons, Armenia has a 6-7 million strong
diaspora. Most of them live in Western countries and since Armenia's
independence some of them have volunteered to provide their expertise
to the Armenian government at no or competitive cost. Thanks to
widespread scholarship programmes, the number of Armenian citizens
with Western graduate and research levels of education has also grown.
Using Armenian experts will not only be cheaper for the government,
but will also provide jobs for local professionals.
From: A. Papazian