YEREVAN, December 11. /ARKA/. Armenia's Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan received today Sebastian Molineus, World Bank Regional Director for the South Caucasus, Grigoryan's press office reported. It said Sylvie Bossoutrot, the Country Manager of the World Bank for Armenia, was in attendance.

Grigoryan was quoted as saying that the meeting was a good occasion to discuss the implementation of joint programs and determine the future work.

Molineus thanked the Armenian government for the effective cooperation and emphasized the importance of the budget assistance program 'Armenia Development Policy Operation', approved by the WB Board in November.

The two sides were said to have also looked into a set of energy, health and education-related programs. Molineus presented the successful experience of other countries and underlined the importance of the steps taken in the development of human capital.

Mher Grigoryan highly appreciated the WB knowledge and experience resources, saying that there was also a need for cooperation in ensuring the development of Armenia's capital market.

On November 21, 2019, the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved a new, EUR 45.8 million (US $50 million) loan for the Armenia Governance Development Policy Operation (DPO), a budget support operation.

The operation supports the government’s actions to strengthen economic, fiscal, and public sector governance; by improving pro-competition, pro-trade and streamlined quality regulations and processes; enhancing efficiency of revenue mobilization and public investment and strengthening anti-corruption initiatives and the performance of the justice sector and the civil service.

Armenia joined the World Bank in 1992. In 1993 it joined the International Development Association (IDA). To date, Armenia has received a total of $2.4 billion worth assistance from the World Bank. -0-