YEREVAN, May 5. /ARКА/. Armenia has begun implementing a world-leading approach to forming a neutral capital buffer, announced Central Bank Governor Martin Galstyan.
According to him, this approach requires the economic system to accumulate a sufficient capital buffer before systemic risks begin to actively grow.
“As a result of the Central Bank’s countercyclical policy, the system has currently accumulated significant capital and liquidity reserves,” Galstyan noted at a parliamentary session on Tuesday.
He reported that the buffer capital already exceeds 180 billion drams, while highly liquid assets amount to approximately 2 trillion drams in national currency and 790 billion drams in foreign currency.
The Central Bank Governor added that the share of non-performing loans, which increased following the severe economic shocks of 2020-2022, is currently at a historically low level.
“This has significantly increased the resilience of the financial system and allowed for the expansion of financial services and lending,” Galstyan said. He also noted that the ratio of commercial banks’ loans and assets to GDP by the end of 2025 reached historically high levels of 64% and 102%, respectively.
According to the ARKA news agency ranking, the loan portfolio of commercial banks in Armenia by the end of 2025 amounted to 7.7 trillion drams, and their total assets amounted to 12.83 trillion drams.
According to Armstat, Armenia’s nominal GDP in 2025 was 11.32 trillion drams, while real GDP growth by 2024 was 7.2%. ($1 = 370.78 drams).
