ARMENIAN CENTRAL BANK SANGUINE ABOUT GLOBAL CRISIS
Shakeh Avoyan

Daily Georgian Times
2008.10.23 16:03
Georgia

The chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) on Friday echoed
government assurances that the global financial crisis will not spill
over into the Armenian banking sector.

Artur Javadian told President Serzh Sarkisian that Armenian banks
continue to be trusted by the population and have sufficient capital
to avoid major losses. "The CBA assured that Armenia has sufficient
potential to cope with and prevent crises," Sarkisian’s press service
said in a statement.

Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian, who headed the CBA until last April,
said on Thursday that the crisis poses no immediate threat to Armenia’s
banking sector because "the reliability of our financial sector is
extremely high." Sarkisian cautioned at the same time that the crisis
could ultimately hurt the Armenian economy if it hits the European
Union and Russia, Armenia’s main trading partners, harder.

Javadian was reported to tell Sarkisian that the CBA devised three
contingency plans of "pre-emptive measures." With the presidential
office giving no details, it was not clear if those measures are
in tune with steps suggested by Armenia’s main opposition alliance
earlier this week.

Sarkisian instructed the CBA chief to brief him on "developments in
the international markets" on a weekly basis.