Evaluation of two policy-based loans to improve efficiency and sustainability of public service delivery and financial sector development in Armenia

In 2022 and 2024, AFD provided a policy-based loans (PBL) to the Government of Armenia, composed by a Sub Program 1 and a Sub Programme 2, and as a parallel financing of an Asian Development Bank (ADB) budget support. The purpose of AFD’s PBL was to assist the Government of Armenia (GoA) in improving the efficiency and sustainability of its public services and the development of private investments in order to support sustainable and inclusive growth and a better quality of life for the population. Specifically, the two phases of the PBL aimed at: (1) strengthen the efficiency of public financial management and the development of money and capital markets; (2) develop a strategic framework for transition to a green economy and put in place tools to catalyse public and private financing to achieve climate change mitigation and adaptation objectives. This evaluation was part of AFD's ex-post evaluation mechanism and aimed to analyse the extent to which the two Policy-based loans (PBLs) in the area of Public Finance Management (PFM) and financial sector development in Armenia, as well as the associated policy dialogue and technical cooperation executed by Expertise France, have achieved their objectives. The aim of this evaluation was twofold: • To take into account lessons and recommendations from the implementation of the previous two phases, to prepare a possible future public policy-based loan in Armenia; • To help preparing other PBLs in the region. The evaluation assessed AFD’s intervention strategy for the two financing phases, as well as the results it has achieved, including: • the procedures for implementing the budgetary financing component; • conduct of public policy dialogue, both technical and political (decision-making); • the overall size, content and consistency of the technical cooperation implemented, part of which is led by AFD and the other by Expertise France, as well as coordination with the technical assistance mobilized by the ADB; • overall coordination between AFD and the ADB, both in the preparation and monitoring of the implementation of financing, and in the conduct of public policy dialogue. Beyond this, alignment with other donors involved in budget financing will be analysed; • the sustainability of reforms undertaken by Armenian institutions, including for Climate and Gender; • AFD’s added value in relation to other financing provided by the donor community. The proposed methodological approach for this evaluation reflected the practices and evaluation policy of the AFD. It also relied on the principles of the OECD DAC in terms of evaluation (OECD, 2010) but is limited to step 1 and the beginning of step 2 of that approach, which covers the first three levels of the chain of effects (inputs, direct and induced outputs), and the links between these levels.


Project Details
Country ARMENIA
Start date 2024.05.16
End date 2024.11.16
Client AFD
Sector EVALUATION
Sub-sector Project/Program
Ref. ADE A660