World Bank backs $250 million refugee housing program in Armenia
The World Bank has approved $250 million in financing to help Armenia expand access to affordable housing for refugees and strengthen its mortgage market, a move that appears primarily aimed at Armenians displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh, even though the press release does not explicitly mention them.
24.12.2025
The funding, approved by the World Bank’s board on Tuesday, supports the Armenia Housing Response and Mortgage Market Enhancement Project, which combines concessional loans and grants to provide rental assistance and subsidised mortgages to refugee households while encouraging private investment in housing finance.
The World Bank said the program will deliver immediate rental support to more than 40,000 refugees and help about 6,500 refugee households acquire permanent homes through mortgage subsidies. It will also provide financial backing to Armenia’s National Mortgage Company to stimulate bank lending under the state housing scheme.
Although the press release refers only to “refugees,” the scale, timing, and design of the program closely match Armenia’s efforts to support more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians who fled Nagorno-Karabakh in 2023 after Azerbaijan’s military aggression and ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh. Their arrival sharply tightened the housing market, pushing up rents and straining social support systems, particularly in Yerevan and surrounding areas.
“Supporting Armenian families to recover and settle into stable homes is central to this project,” said Fabrizio Zarcone, the World Bank’s country manager for Armenia, adding that the initiative pairs near-term assistance with longer-term reforms to housing and mortgage institutions.
The financing package includes a $24.4 million grant from the Global Concessional Financing Facility and a $10 million grant from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s surplus-funded Liveable Planet Fund. Implementation will be led by Armenia’s Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and the National Mortgage Company, under the oversight of a government steering committee.
The World Bank said the project complements support from other development partners, including the Asian Development Bank and U.N. agencies, as Armenia transitions from emergency humanitarian relief toward longer-term integration of displaced populations.
Since 1992, the World Bank has provided Armenia with about $3 billion in financing and grants. The lender said the new housing program is intended to stabilise the housing market and support inclusive growth as Armenia continues to deal with the long-term social and economic consequences of displacement.
