ARMENIA’S INTERNATIONAL RESERVES AT ABOUT $1.5BLN BY END Q1 – NEWSPAPER

08.04.2015 15:45

YEREVAN, April 8. /ARKA/. Armenia’s gross international reserves will
amount to about $1.5 billion by the end of the first quarter 2015,
Haykakan Zhamanak (Armenian Time) says referring to the press office
of the central bank.

Hence, the international reserves will still be in line with the
international practices and will be sufficient for covering the imports
and the servicing of short-term (up to one year) commitments for more
than five years.

According to the newspaper, the regulator expects the international
reserves to be replenished by about $510 million in 2015, of it about
$300 million through second euro bond issue, and the remaining part
from other receipts.

At the same time, the foreign debt load is expected to decrease
substantially, by about 30%.

The newspaper says the number of commercial banks’ foreign currency
accounts in the central bank is expected to increase due to the
regulator’s recent actions to replenish commercial banks’ capital
and to promote forex inflow.

The reduction in reserves by $762 million during 2014 was facilitated
by a number of factors, particularly by decrease of $305 million in
balances on foreign currency correspondent accounts, external debt
servicing worth about $260 million and the central bank’s sale/purchase
deals worth $310 million to ensure financial stability and to curb
the inflation, says Haykakan Zhamanak. -0-