YEREVAN, October 24. / ARKA /. The project office for implementation of projects, affiliated with Armenia’s ministry of finance, has provided farmers across the country with more than $ 30 million in loans to finance about 1,056 programs, the office told ARKA.
The project implementation office known as “Rural Financing Structure” oversees the process of signing agreements with various crediting organizations for the development of small and medium-sized agricultural businesses. The finances are provided from loans issued by IFAD and the World Bank International Development Agency.
The size of loans may reach up to 60 million drams or an equivalent in USD. They are repayable in seven years with an 18-month grace period.
According to project implementation office head, S.Virabyan, new financing mechanisms were developed and introduced for universal crediting organizations.
“We are currently working with seven credit institutions specializing in the agricultural sector, five of which renegotiated borrowing agreements in September. Under the new agreements, the project implementation office has announced a tender for providing $300,000 in fresh funding, ” he said.
According to Virabyan, the application of each crediting organization will be considered separately, and priority will be given to the organization that will provide sub-loans at the lowest annual rate.
“We provide funding in USD and drams in line with the requirements of the Armenian financial market, and based on the characteristics of different segments of agriculture,” he said. -0-
