YEREVAN, MARCH 10, NOYAN TAPAN. The World Bank provided a 28 mln dollar credit for poverty reduction in Armenia. The agreement was signed on March 9 by the RA Minister of Finance and Economy Vardan Khachatrian and the WB Yerevan Office Acting Director Naira Melkumian. In the words of V. Khachatrian, the credit will assist with implementation of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP). The credit will be used to maintain the country's economic growth rates and to reduce poverty through budgetary allocations and implementation of PRSP reforms. The minister said that 196.5 mln out of 230 mln dollars envisaged by the WB for 2005-2009 has already been allocated. Negotiations on the rest of the sum are continuing. V. Khachatrian expressed a hope that this sum will be provided by late 2007. According to WB information, despite the economic growth registered in the country, the unemployment making up about one third of labor force has started declining only recently.

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