YEREVAN, November 1. /ARKA/. In late September 2023 the amount of consumer loans provided to citizens was up almost 19% from late December 2022, said the head of the Central Bank of Armenia Martin Galstyan on Tuesday.
Galstyan described the rise as ‘a fairly healthy indicator’ saying the growth is being driven by the income growth in a number of sectors of the Armenia’s economy.
“If we compare the figures with last year, when a substantial part of the revenues of the financial system and the banking sector came from services provided to non-residents, this year we see quite a serious demand for credit products and opportunities for the banks to earn more profit,’ he said.
Galstyan also said residents’ deposits at the end of September increased by 0.7% on a monthly basis.
‘Foreign currency demand deposits of legal entities increased by 4.9%, and term deposits by 3.7%. Foreign currency demand deposits of individuals increased by 4.7%, while term foreign currency deposits decreased by 0.8%. Thus, there is no trend that would indicate withdrawal of foreign currency deposits,” he said at a press conference on Tuesday.
Galstyan also said that the growth of total deposits of residents compared to the same period last year at a fixed exchange rate was 25.2%, while non-residents – 16.8%.
The Central Bank head also noted that nothing threatens the stability of Armenia’s financial system at the moment.
“The Central Bank together with colleagues from the government, banks and the National Assembly should discuss a reasonable and best solution to the created situation,” he said when asked how the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh government’s debt to Armenia’s banks will be resolved. According to Galstyan, no final discussions have taken place so far.
After the large-scale aggression of the Azerbaijani armed forces on September 19, Nagorno-Karabakh authorities accepted the proposal of the command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent for a ceasefire.
Fearing persecutions more than 100,000 Nagorno-Karabakh residents left their homes and moved to Armenia.
Nagorno-Karabakh president signed a decree to dissolve all state institutions and organizations under their subordination before January 1, 2024. By that time the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is to cease to exist. -0-
