YEREVAN, October 6. / ARKA /. In 2015 August Armenian banks’ loans were more expensive than in the previous month, the Central Bank said today adding that both short-term and long-term loans in drams and in US Dollars became more costly.
More precisely, interest rates on loans in Armenian drams repayable in less than 12 months increased by 0.68 percentage points to 18.86%, while loans in US dollars increased by 0.37 percentage points to 10.76%.
Interest rates on loans in drams repayable in more than a year rose by 0.61 percentage points to 18.26%, and loans in US Dollars became more expensive by 0.7 percentage points being issued at 11.79%.
The rise is primarily explained by high refinancing rate. Following a dramatic depreciation of dram at the end of 2014 the Central Bank raised the refinancing rate from 6.75% to 8.5%. Within 8 months of this year the refinancing rate was raised twice to 10.5% and 10.25%.
Another factor affecting the interest rates is high level forex reserve requirements. In December 2014 the requirement was raised from 12% to 24%. Today, the forex reserve requirement is 20%.-0-
