YEREVAN, March 17. /ARKA/. Deposits in US Dollars are still the most popular type of investment for Armenian citizens. According to the Central Bank of Armenia, resident deposits at the end of January 2017 stood at 1.763.1 trillion drams, of which 60% or the equivalent of 1.063.9 trillion drams were in foreign currency.
ARKA news agency presents a ranking of the most favorable rates for dollar deposits offered by Armenia-based banks, based on a study of individual term deposits in USD with the highest interest rate, for 12-month deposits.
The study is based on the amount of deposits, the interest payment schedule and the possibility of replenishment of the deposit. Deposit products and special offers were not considered. The banks that offer the most attractive rates for deposits in US dollars are Armbusinessbank, Prometey Bank, Inecobank, Unibank, Converse Bank and Ardshinbank.
Today the highest interest rate on deposits in US dollars is 5.5% per annum. Two banks offer this interest rate – Armbusinessbank and Prometey Bank. They share the first and second place in the ranking.
On the third position is Inecobank with 5.25% interest rate. It is followed by Unibank that offers 5.1% interest rate. The fifth and sixth positions are shared by Converse Bank and Ardshinbank, which offer 5% interest rate on US dollar deposits. The lowest rate of 1.75% is offered by Iranian-owned Mellat Bank.
It should be noted that over the past year, interest rates on deposits in Armenia have significantly decreased due to a periodic reduction in the refinancing rate by the Central Bank. In particular, the rates on dollar deposits for a period of up to a year decreased from 6.17% in January 2016 to 4.19% in January 2016.
The ranking was compiled based on the data on the banks’ official websites. -0-
