YEREVAN, October 26. /ARKA/. On Monday, the Armenian National Assembly passed at the final reading a law that raises the amount of government-insured private deposits in Armenia’s banks about 2.5 times to AMD 10 million against the present 4 million for dram deposits and AMD 5 million against the current 2 million for deposits in foreign currencies.
The following scheme is designed for dram and foreign currency deposits: if a dram deposit exceeds AMD 5 million, only the mentioned amount will be insured, if a dram deposit is less than AMD 5 million, it will be fully insured plus a part of a foreign currency deposit, i.e. difference between the dram deposit and AMD 5 million.
The law comes into force in ten days after its official publication.
The Central Bank of Armenia says the increase of the amount of government-insured private deposits 2.5 times will allow insuring 95% of Armenian depositors’ deposits.
Taking into account developments in Armenia’s banking sector throughout last five or six years, when large amounts were lent and deposited, the regulator is convinced that this legislative step was necessary and demanded.
It also should be mentioned that the size of the bulk of deposits in Armenia is close to the insured amount.
The central bank says this legislative change will make it possible to insure 40% of the amounts deposited by individuals against the present 25-27%.
According to the National Statistical Service of Armenia, deposits of Armenian residents in the country’s banks totaled AMD 1 422.1 billion in August 2015 (0.8% month-on-month decline). Their deposits in drams amounted to AMD 497.5 billion (3% decline) and deposits in foreign currencies AMD 924.5 billion (0.4% growth). ($1 – AMD 469.79). —-0—–
