YEREVAN. – The economic crisis in Europe could firstly affect the countries of Southeast Europe, World Bank representative Yvonne Tsikata stated, during a briefing with news reporters on Tuesday, speaking about the likelihood of a second wave of economic crisis and its impact on Armenia.    

In Tsikata’s words, there are several factors that play a decisive role during economic crises. First is trade, and those countries that have large trade volumes with Greece and Italy would suffer greatly. Second is the banking sector, but Armenia’s banking system does not have close relations with the financial systems of Greece or Italy. In addition, liquidity interest rates are not high in Armenia, so no problems should come about. And the third factor is linked to the Euro-Dollar  ratio. And Armenia is protected in this sense, too, because, according to World Bank’s representative, Armenia does not make use of Euro.         

Therefore in the case of a second wave of economic crisis, Armenia would not experience a shock, albeit secondary affects, such as GDP or tax reduction, could come about. “But the danger is far from here,” Yvonne Tsikata concluded.