Growth And Poverty Reduction In Armenia

Since 2000, Armenia's economic performance has been remarkable. Real economic growth has averaged 11 percent a year, annual inflation has averaged 3 percent, and poverty and inequality have fallen. The country has outperformed other low-income countries including other members of the Commonwealth of Independent States. This is particularly impressive given the geographical location of Armenia, the closure of two critical borders, and occasional political turmoil. The key factors behind Armenia's economic performance are prudent monetary and fiscal policies, liberal trade and foreign exchange regimes, rapid and relaively well-sequenced structural reforms, and support from the Armenian diaspora. In addition, the implementation of a poverty reduction strategy since 2002 has complemented the effect of economic growth on reducing poverty. This book assesses the country's economic transformation during the last 10 years and discusses the challenges to sustaining these successes.

This Joint Staff Advisory Note (JSAN) discusses Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) for Armenia, which focuses on the government’s commitment to equitable growth and sustained poverty reduction. It reports on the progress in addressing issues raised in the previous JSAN, and provides IMF staff's advice on key priorities for strengthening the PRSP process further. The second PRSP Progress Report provides strong evidence of rapid economic growth, a notable reduction in poverty, and a number of other accomplishments, particularly in fiscal policy and social service delivery.

The Armenian government adopted the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), and the first years of the PRSP implementation have evidently resulted in the significant reduction of both poverty and extreme poverty. The main focus has been sustainable economic growth, institutional reforms, and poverty reduction targeted policy in individual spheres. The annual budget is fully based on the PRSP ideology and was programmed accepting the priorities set up in the PRSP. The government considers the medium-term expenditure framework as a key mechanism to overcome poverty.

The Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) has been developed for eradicating poverty in Armenia. It analyzes the poverty situation of Armenia, and evaluates the methodology and methodological issues. It discusses the PRSP goals, main policy directions, solution to poverty, and the reduction of inequality. It assesses the social and economic strategies and governance. It reviews the employment issues and trends in the budget framework, and also analyzes the implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of the system.

This paper evaluates the Republic of Armenia’s Third Review Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) and a Request for Waiver of Performance Criterion. The PRGF-supported program remains on track. All but one of the December 2002 quantitative performance criteria were met, and all structural measures envisaged for implementation up until February 2003 have been carried out or implemented as a prior action for the third review. The targets on tax revenue, stock of domestic arrears, fiscal deficit, and net international reserves were met with comfortable margins.

This paper assesses the Republic of Armenia’s 2001 Article IV Consultation and a Request for a Three-Year Arrangement Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF). The economic situation in Armenia has improved since mid-2000 following the deterioration in late 1999 and early 2000. Real GDP began to recover in the second quarter and increased by 6 percent for 2000 as a whole. The authorities have made progress in reforming the energy sector, which remains a considerable financial drain on the budget and the rest of the economy.