YEREVAN, November 28. / ARKA /. Armenia’s Central Bank said it had intervened to buy a total of $48.6 million in the third quarter ‘to offset short-term fluctuations in the foreign exchange market, resulting from the seasonality of the balance of payments.”
According to the regulator, it has bought a total of $102.2 million since the beginning of the year from the local forex market and sold $94.6 million.
In the third quarter of 2016 weak devaluation pressures were reported from the currency markets of Armenia trade partner countries. In particular, the weighted average nominal rate of their currencies depreciated by 0.4% against the US dollar, mainly due to the depreciation of the euro, the Georgian Lari and the Chinese Yuan. At the same time, the Russian Ruble and the Japanese Yen strengthened during the quarter.
According to the regulator, in parallel to the depreciation of the national currencies of Armenian partner countries in the third quarter of 2016, the average nominal exchange rate of the Armenian dram gained 0.8% against the US dollar. The average dollar exchange rate in Armenia in the third quarter amounted to 475.36 drams against 479.39 drams in the same period of 2015.
According to the National Statistical Service, the average dollar exchange rate in Armenia in the first 9 months rose to 481.03 drams against 477.71 drams in the same period of 2015, thus the Armenian dram depreciated by 0.7% during the first 9 months of 2016. -0-
