YEREVAN, November 10. /ARKA/. Armenia will receive a €80-million budget-supporting loan from Germany’s KfW Bank, Vardan Aramyan, Armenian finance minister, said Thursday at a regular cabinet meeting.

At their meeting, the cabinet ministers upheld an appropriate loan agreement.

“The loan will be provided in two tranches - €40 million in 2017 and the remaining €40 million in 2018,” Aramyan said.

In his words, the loan terms are quite preferential, compared with the Armenian government bonds at the world market.

In particular, the loan is provided for 15 years with a five-year grace period at 2.4% annual interest rate, and the effective interest rate is 2.55%.

The minister singled out water economy, solid waste management and agriculture insurance mechanisms among the areas where this money will be spent.

KfW will also provide another €8.3 million as technical assistance grant.

“This budget-supporting loan is in tune with the indicator of the budget support for financing deficit in the 2017 government budget - $220 million, of which €40 million will be repaid from this loan.” -0---