YEREVAN, May 25. /ARKA/. Control over efficient utilization of international loans will be brought under the legal framework, head of the Prosperous Armenia Party faction Naira Zohrabyan said at the 2014 budget execution discussions in the parliament on Monday.
The respective legislative proposals are currently discussed in the parliament, she said.
Substantial percentage of any loan is spent on consulting services and should be subject to serious monitoring that is possible only through a law, Zohrabyan said. According to the lawmaker, this approach will help reduce corruption risks and enhance loan effectiveness.
Armenia’s National Statistical Service reports that the country’s foreign public debt was $3,785.2 million as of the end of 2014, a 2.9% reduction from 2013. Multipartite loans accounted for about 68.8% or amounted to $2,604.6 million.
Loans from the World Bank accounted for about 42.5% of multipartite loans and amounted to $1,609.1 million (1.5% increase). Loans from EBRD were about $21.3 million at the end of 2014. Funds borrowed from the European Investment Bank totaled $44.6 million. Another $62.8 million was lent by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), some $34.5 million by OPEC, $311 million by the Asian Development Fund, $442 million by IMF and $79 million by the EU.
Bilateral loans amounted to a total of $504.16 million, an 8.1% decline, including $252.5 million from JICA, $211.9 million from German KfW, $25.3 million from USA, $8.7 million from France and $5.7 million from Abu-Dhabi Fund for Development. –0–
