YEREVAN, September 28. /ARKA/. Karen Karapetyan, Armenian prime minister, met with bankers on Tuesday and said he was waiting for practical and extraordinary ideas from them, which would be able to improve business environment and attract investments.

“Our goal is to hear the financial and economic sectors’ problems, challenges and expectations from the government,” the premier said. “Our goal is to do whatever is necessary to allow business to breath, and in this context I expect you will come up with proposals pointing out what particular steps are needed to attract additional lending to the economy. Time has come for practical solutions.”

Karapetyan proposed the bankers to develop appropriate mechanisms for providing loans to small and mid-scale businesses from banks’ assets to spur different segments of the national economy.

Arthur Javadyan, chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia, presented the regulator’s monetary policy and general situation in lending to the prime minister and the latter instructed finance and economy ministers to discuss the proposals and continue the joint work. --0---