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On the initiative of the Government, the National Assembly convened an extraordinary sitting on December 9, according to the agenda set by the initiator.

At the initiator’s suggestion and by the decision of the Government, some agenda items will be debated in the second reading after their adoption in the first reading within twenty-four hours. Some drafts will be debated with the special procedure.

After the adoption of the agenda, the MPs debated the draft law on Ratifying the loan agreement “Fiscal stability and financial markets development program” signed between the Republic of Armenia and the Asian Development Bank on November 17, 2022.

The Deputy Minister of Finance Vahe Hovhannisyan informed that the loan agreement “Fiscal stability and financial markets development program” was signed between the Republic of Armenia and the Asian Development Bank on November 17, 2022, amounting to 100 million US dollars. The loan will be repaid within 12 years, and the grace period is 3 years.

The budget support funds will be used to finance the deficit defined by the RA Law on the RA State Budget for 2022. The precondition for receiving budget support funds is the implementation of measures and reforms in a number of areas based on mutually agreed political actions. In particular, the scope of the program includes increasing the efficiency of fiscal planning, transparency, risk management, state expenditure, the reforms of public investments, including public-private partnership system, the modernization of the public procurement system, the development of green economy policies, increasing adaptation to climate change and expanding the use of green financial instruments, the improvement of the debt management system of the Government, as well as the development of financial and capital markets.

The loan agreement will create additional financial obligations for the RA state budget.

The NA Standing Committee on Financial-Credit and Budgetary Affairs endorsed the agreement. The deputies of the Armenia Faction Artsvik Minasyan and Artur Khachatryan, the deputy of the Civil Contract Faction Vahagn Aleksanyan gave a speech related to the draft.

Artur Khachatryan referred to the inefficiency of spending loan funds.

The NA Vice President Hakob Arshakyan gave an extraordinary speech. According to him, during 2018-2019, as many roads were built in our country as were not built during the previous 7,8,10 years, and this happened only because fair competitions were held. “During the previous 2 years, the Government has increased the budget of the science sector more than twice, and intends to build more than 500 schools. We have huge plans, and some of them may not be fully implemented,” he noted.

Artur Khachatryan gave a speech on behalf of the Armenia Faction. He referred to the issue of inefficiency of capital expenditures, mentioning some facts related to the road construction.

The draft law was adopted as a result of voting.