YEREVAN, December 2. / ARKA /. In a statement issued today Armenia’s Central Bank called on financial market participants to refrain from currency speculations and unfounded conversions after the national currency, the dram, has lost again its value by 7.07 percentage points against the US dollar that traded today on average at 442.33 drams.
“The Central Bank urges (financial market participants) to refrain from currency speculation and unfounded conversions, because such fluctuations in the value of currencies contain high risks and may provoke substantial losses instead of expected benefits,” the statement says.
According to the Central Bank, the latest development in international markets and in the region, including fluctuations in the value of currencies has contributed to the formation of negative expectations in the domestic market increasing the volatility of the exchange rate of the national currency.
The Central Bank says also it believes that these developments are short- term and reiterates its readiness to stabilize the market by all available means. It also reminds that its reserves are quite sufficient to ensure financial stability.
The dram began losing its value against US Dollar in October. The depreciation accelerated on November 24, when the dram’s average exchange rate shot from 419 to 435 per dollar.
The Central Bank attributed the dram’s weakening, to “recent developments in the regional and international financial markets,” highlighting the worsening economic situation in Russia, Armenia’s major trade partner, the depreciation of the Russian ruble and the falling prices of commodities at international markets. -0-
