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IFAD
partners in Armenia
Over the years IFAD has established has a strong partnership with the Government of Armenia. Cooperation between IFAD and Armenia’s Ministry of Finance led to the successful expansion of the Agricultural Cooperative Bank of Armenia (ACBA), which provides a wide range of financial services in rural areas. The World Bank’s support for irrigation through the International Development Association builds on foundations laid by IFAD-financed activities that fostered the formation of water users’ associations in the mid-1990s. In a more recent initiative, under the Rural Areas Economic Development Programme, IFAD has provided the initial capital for the Rural Finance Facility (RFF), which was established by the government under the Ministry of Finance and Economy. To support rural development, the RFF channels capital to financial institutions, working with six private banks in Armenia and covering the poorest parts of the country. The World Bank, the Millennium Challenge Account joing IFAD and the government as partners in the innovative financial facility (see Innovation for development). USAID supports a business advisory services programme that complements rural business intermediation services offered by the programme. The Rural Areas Economic Development Programme takes an innovative approach to rural finance. The key to that approach is the RFF, which provides risk-sharing mechanisms and incentives for both banks and clients. It is a vehicle for unprecedented leverage of capital from the private sector in support of poverty reduction. The mechanism also unlocks the door to long-term loans for agricultural and rural development enterprises. The programme provides for strategic investments in the packaging of finance, the transfer of information and technology and the development of commercially viable and sustainable infrastructure.
Source: IFAD |
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