INTEREST RATES IN ARMENIA TO CONTINUE FALLING, AN EXPERT SAYS

ArmInfo
2009-07-23 16:15:00

ArmInfo. Interest rates in Armenia will continue falling, Development
Director of Ameriabank Tigran Jrbashyan said, Wednesday.

He thinks the policy of changing the refinance rate from the viewpoint
of changing rates in the market under the crisis conditions is not so
effective. The market rates are much more effectively affected by the
programs on refinancing and providing resources to commercial banks
implemented by the Central Bank of Armenia and Armenian Government,
he said.

He added that in II qt 2009 the reduction of the total credit portfolio
of Armenian commercial banks from 651 bln AMD as of March 31 to
618.6 bln AMD as of 1 July is mostly connected with the clients’
unpreparedness to assume new obligations. "Today the clients are
not ready to assume risks with respect to banking institutions,
which, in their turn, are not ready to assume risks under uncertain
conditions in economy, though there is no problem with liquidity",-
Jrbashyan stressed.

At the same time, he said that Ameriabank is not geared to maximal
indices in case of increasing or decreasing rates in the market. "As
a rule, we meet the interests of our clients and offer such mechanisms
which are admissible for them",- he said.