Iranian New Year affects Armenian dram rate

26.03.2010 18:15 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Sharp fluctuations in the national currency of
Armenia are mainly conditioned by the influx of dollars into the
country, in particular, the influx of tourists from Iran who came to
celebrate Novruz (New Year) in Armenia, Andranik Tevanyan, head of
Political Economy Research Center told PanARMENIAN.Net.

According to him, unlike the rest of the world, the dollar rate in
Armenia is an internal process controlled by the state. At this point,
in his opinion, the dram rate is closer to the fixed rate.

Sharp fluctuations are not expected, Andranik Tevanyan said.

On March 17 at the foreign exchange market the rate of Armenian dram
to U.S. dollar exceeded the "psychological" mark and reached 400.10
dram/dollar, after which the rate of drama gradually devalued. In
recent days the situation on the foreign exchange market started to
stabilize, and today the rate is 394.62 dram/dollar.

According to the representative of RA Ministry of Economy Mekhak
Apresyan , the tourism sector recorded significant growth. "Only
within March 15-17 thousands of Iranian citizens arrived in Armenia,
at least three times more than during the same period of 2009," he
said.