On 26 March, the Armenian government  formally approved a multimillion-dollar stimulus package designed to cushion the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic on businesses and ordinary people, reported Radio Free Europe.

The plan makes most Armenian firms as well as farmers eligible for financial assistance or credit subsidies. It also called for one-off cash handouts to citizens who have lost their jobs this month due to economic disruption caused by coronavirus. They will receive 100,000 drams ($200) each if they have children under the age of 14 and are the sole breadwinners of their families.

The main focus of the wide-ranging aid is struggling businesses. In particular, creditworthy firms and individual entrepreneurs will receive grants worth 500 million drams (just over $1 million) if they pledge to use that money to pay their workers’ wages, buy equipment or raw materials or pay taxes. The scheme will not apply to Armenian banks, insurance companies and casinos. The government promised additional grants to the small businesses that have not laid off any workers in recent weeks. The amount of such funding will depend on the volume of their annual turnover. The banks will also be paid to provide cheap credit to farmers across the country. The latter will be able to borrow up to 1 million drams each and will not have to pay interest for two years. 

According to the head of the Armenia’s parliamentary committee on economic affairs Babken Tunyan, the branches of tourism, catering, hotel services, transport, and supermarkets have been the most affected with the coronavirus crisis. The Armenian Restaurant Association (ARA) suggested a number of proposals for the government, saying they are designed to ensure the minimum viability of the public catering industry and related services, which were forced to a downtime by the coronavirus outbreak. According to the association, the financial aid package does not contain solutions that would completely support the public catering industry and other services.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met with his Georgian counterpart Giorgi Gakharia in order to exchange information on the situation caused by the COVID-19 epidemic and discussed issues related to the transit of Armenian goods through Georgia’s territory. According to their joint statement, special measures are being taken to ensure uninterrupted movement of goods through the Upper Lars customs checkpoint. The checkpoint recorded a steady accumulation of vehicle transit due to Iran and Turkey closing its borders for cargo transportation.

The head of the EU Delegation to Armenia Andrea Wiktorin expressed EU’s support for Armenian in order to tackle the coronavirus crisis. “The EU is the largest donor to Armenia with over 1 million euro per week in assistance, with the ultimate goal of improving the living conditions of Armenian people and regions. We are adjusting our programmes to face [COVID-19] together and more funds are coming,” she tweeted.

The country reported 39 new cases of infected people, bringing the total tally to 329. Amongst these cases are also the members of the  Armenian military, with already five servicemen testing positive for the virus. The first death in Armenia because of the coronavirus was also recorded. A 72-year old victim suffered from multiple previous medical conditions, including a heart disease, and died one day after being transferred to an intensive care unit of Yerevan’s Nork hospital.