ARMENIA HAS A STABLE FINANCIAL SYSTEM
Vasak Tarposhyan

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
30 OctHayots Ashkhar Daily
Armenia

Armenia’s financial system does not respond to the international
crisis, at least for the time being. Moreover, the situation here is
quite stable, ARTHUR JAVADYAN, Chairman of the Central Bank, said in
response to the questions of the journalists.

"The situation with the financial system of Armenia is currently
stable.

The banks are overcapitalized, and their assets are overliquidated. If
the conversation is about loan investments, almost all the banks have
revised the processes of loan payments. In this respect, they have
revealed new risks, learnt lessons from the international crisis and
have simply established stricter rules for the loan payments."

However, if we look upon the paces of the growth of loan payments,
we’ll see that they haven’t even decreased. Since the beginning of the
year, we have had an absolute growth of 62 percent. The mortgage loans
have increased by 52 percent. Many people come to me and say that
there are no loan payments provided now. That isn’t true. Mortgage
loans are provided; the thing is that the terms of their payment
have been revised, and stricter rules have been established. There
are several banks which have been engaged in such process over the
recent two-three days.

Therefore, I can say that the banks of Armenia do not yet incur the
impact of the international crisis. Of course, we have prepared a
list of anti-crisis measures in any case, and we can implement them
upon necessity.

Those measures also bear a preventive character, and we will soon start
implementing them. Anyway, I can say that there is no non-payment in
any bank. I assure you that the deposits and the investments in the
banking system are in reliable hands."

"What about the transfers? Haven’t they decreased in number?"

"On the contrary. We even have a growth of private transfers. During
the month of September, transfers equivalent to the sum of 203 Dollars
have entered Armenia. This is an unprecedented index in comparison
both with last year and the previous months."

"There is an opinion that the financial crisis will anyway produce
an impact on the banking system of Armenia, and the volumes of the
loan payments are expected to be become less."

"Over the recent days, a number of significant events have occurred
in the sphere of our banking system. First, one of our banks –
‘AGBA Credit-Agricol’, received a loan in the amount of 42 million
Euros from ‘Credit Agricol’, its mother bank. The amount is already
on the correspondent account of the bank. If there were any problem
in any other bank, the sum would not have been paid."

"Last week, ‘Eurobank’ also approved funding programs for the small
and medium enterprises of Armenia, envisaging 10 million Euros in
one case, and a smaller amount in the other."