Today, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan received Nathan Porter, Head of the International Monetary Fund Mission in Armenia. The meeting was also attended by the IMF Resident Representative in Armenia Mehdi Raissi.
The Prime Minister praised the cooperation of the Government of Armenia and the Central Bank with the International Monetary Fund, emphasizing, “The partnership with the IMF and the targeted programs, especially in the post-war period, demonstrated their importance and contributed to the maintenance of macroeconomic stability in Armenia. We are ready to continue the cooperation in the same spirit, we are ready to discuss further joint actions”.
Thanking for the appreciation, the Head of the IMF mission in Armenia noted that the institution attaches importance to the partnership with Armenia and reaffirms its readiness to expand it. He stressed that the IMF will continue to support the reform agenda initiated by the Armenian Government, including monetary and fiscal policy improvements, strengthening of public-private investment system and the business environment, infrastructure improvement, implementation of the strategy in the sphere of education, increase of management transparency, development of targetted events and programs and development of mining sector.
Nikol Pashinyan noted that the Government is actively working in all the mentioned directions, as well as in the other directions outlined by its Action Plan.
The Prime Minister referred to the reforms being carried out in the fields of education, infrastructure, investments, mining, fiscal and other spheres, and provided details on the ongoing works and results. The Prime Minister stressed that the reforms are interconnected, and the effective implementation of one stems from the successful implementation of the other. The Prime Minister stressed that education reform is the basis of the reforms. Based on this vision, ambitious programs are implemented in the field of education, which are aimed at providing 3 components: educational content, physical infrastructure and high professional qualification. “In the next 5 years we plan to build / reconstruct 300 schools and 500 kindergartens. Our main goal is to make quality education available to all children in all regions and settlements of Armenia. In this context, we are also developing the distance education system. We have initiated a process of voluntary certification of teachers, which will also contribute to the improvement of the salary system", the Prime Minister said.
As for the investment environment, here, according to Nikol Pashinyan, efforts are made to introduce an effective evaluation system. Speaking about the steps aimed at improving the fiscal policy, the Prime Minister mentioned the elimination of overpayments, the introduction of flat taxation system, new property tax system, and highlighted the need for close cooperation with the IMF in this process.
The interlocutors noted that the parties' views on the further course of the Republic of Armenia-IMF cooperation are largely identical, and agreed to continue the effective partnership.
