Tweet
Loans from international organizations hardly serve the purpose -
Vahagn Khachatryan
15:29 * 25.05.14
Loans borrowed from international organizations do not often serve the
purpose, economist Vahagn Khachatryan told Tert.am as he commented on
the signing of a $50 loan agreement between Armenia's Ministry of
Finance and the World Bank.
Cooperating with international donors gives rise to a problem of how
well Armenia's economy is capable of utilizing the loans and whether
resolving such problems is part of Armenia's economic strategy.
"Loans are often borrowed because the World Bank grants them and our
government takes them out. And then we see they are hardly effective.
A glaring example is the loans taken out for corruption control and
raising efficiency of tax collection. But their effectiveness is
highly dubious," Khachatryan said.
If problems could be resolved by means of loans, the WB loans could
only be welcomed especially since they are granted on favorable terms.
"The fact is that the aforementioned areas need additional funding.
But are loans the best means of resolving the problems? Is there not
an alternative, such as fundraising or more efficient use of available
funds?"
"Or the notorious Russian loan was never utilized. Funds were provided
to serve the loan, but were later returned to Russia. Actually, it was
only done for us to pay interests rather than to invest the funds in
Armenia's economy. All this should be considered as a whole to
understand if Armenia has borrowed one more loan from the World Bank,"
Khachatryan said.
Asked about public control mechanisms, the economist said:
"The first mechanism is the National Assembly, the second is
transparency of processes. But in Armenia this all is only
declarations.
The public is the last to know about anything now because their
activities are not transparent. The National Assembly cannot even know
because the government provides as much information as it considers
necessary. And we learn about it too late," Khachatryan said.
The following conclusion can be drawn from this: regularly borrowed
loans serve purposes different than officially declared.
Armenian News - Tert.am
Vahagn Khachatryan
15:29 * 25.05.14
Loans borrowed from international organizations do not often serve the
purpose, economist Vahagn Khachatryan told Tert.am as he commented on
the signing of a $50 loan agreement between Armenia's Ministry of
Finance and the World Bank.
Cooperating with international donors gives rise to a problem of how
well Armenia's economy is capable of utilizing the loans and whether
resolving such problems is part of Armenia's economic strategy.
"Loans are often borrowed because the World Bank grants them and our
government takes them out. And then we see they are hardly effective.
A glaring example is the loans taken out for corruption control and
raising efficiency of tax collection. But their effectiveness is
highly dubious," Khachatryan said.
If problems could be resolved by means of loans, the WB loans could
only be welcomed especially since they are granted on favorable terms.
"The fact is that the aforementioned areas need additional funding.
But are loans the best means of resolving the problems? Is there not
an alternative, such as fundraising or more efficient use of available
funds?"
"Or the notorious Russian loan was never utilized. Funds were provided
to serve the loan, but were later returned to Russia. Actually, it was
only done for us to pay interests rather than to invest the funds in
Armenia's economy. All this should be considered as a whole to
understand if Armenia has borrowed one more loan from the World Bank,"
Khachatryan said.
Asked about public control mechanisms, the economist said:
"The first mechanism is the National Assembly, the second is
transparency of processes. But in Armenia this all is only
declarations.
The public is the last to know about anything now because their
activities are not transparent. The National Assembly cannot even know
because the government provides as much information as it considers
necessary. And we learn about it too late," Khachatryan said.
The following conclusion can be drawn from this: regularly borrowed
loans serve purposes different than officially declared.
Armenian News - Tert.am