YEREVAN. – Armenia will access $873 million under 20147-17 Partnership Strategy with World Bank, Henry Kerali, regional director of the World Bank for South Caucasus, said. 

Kerali, who has arrived in Yerevan to discuss the newly approved four-year partnership strategy, told reporters that the total envelope of funding from the WB group is 873 million USD over the next four years.

The major part will be disbursed through the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) – the branch of the World Bank with lending close to market rates.

Armenia will receive $595 million through IBRD, and $84.5 million through the International Development Association (IDA), which lends on more concessional terms.

The support of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), which focuses on lending and technical assistance for the private sector, will total $160-190 million, which is a notable increase compared to the previous Country Partnership Strategy.

“We haven’t yet agreed on the breakdown of the funding, but the major part is going to be lending as usual – often, but not necessarily, at softer rates,” Kerali told reporters on Tuesday.

Speaking on the repayment conditions, Mr Kerali told that the IDA projects will have a maturity of over 30 years with a 5 year grace period. For IBRD projects, the present lending rate varies between Libor + 50.75 and 100 basis points (i.e. 0.5075 and 1 percent), depending on the options chosen by the government.

World Bank’s country manager for Armenia, Jean-Michel Happi, noted that $72 million, a part of financial package, will be injected in Armenia’s state budget under Development Policy Operations (DPO) in 2014. New country programs for 2014 are in the pipeline, Happi added.