SME support III

active

Armenian MSMEs still have limited access to loans in local currency (core problem). This has worsened as a result of the Corona crisis and, in conjunction with the burden on the Armenian economy caused by the brief Nagorno-Karabakh war with neighboring Azerbaijan, can lead to business closures and the loss of many jobs, resulting in a dramatic slowdown in poverty-reducing economic growth. The project aims to counteract this and help secure the liquidity of small and medium-sized enterprises by improving the availability of local currency loans for MSMEs. The project is complementary to the Armenian government's program Measures to alleviate the consequences of Covid-19 outbreak from March 2020. The borrower and project sponsor are the Armenian Central Bank (CBA) and its project implementation unit (PIU) German Armenian Fund (GAF). The immediate target group of the project are Armenian partner financial institutions (PFIs) that grant loans to Armenian MSMEs (indirect target group). The project provides the GAF with refinancing funds for loans to MSMEs. The indirect target group thus gains access to financing offers in local currency. The module makes a contribution to the core theme of training and sustainable growth for good jobs, field of action (2) private sector and financial system development.