YEREVAN, November 30, /ARKA/. Armenia’s Central Bank said its total reserves grew by 3.1% in the third quarter of 2010 or by 27.15 billion Drams to 911.5 billion Drams as of September 30. Reserves in foreign currency accounted for 79.4% of all reserves, down from 80.1% at the beginning of the quarter.

The Central Bank said also its reserves in foreign exchange grew by 2.1% (or 15 billion Drams if denominated in Armenia’s national currency) to stand at 723.3 billion Drams as of September 30. Its foreign currency claims to banks and other financial institutions dropped by 14% in the reporting period of time or by 26.9 billion Drams to 165.3 billion Drams. Forex currency reserves placed at IMF rose from 66 billion Drams to 67.4 billion Drams. The volume of foreign currency reserve earmarked for selling did not change from the previous quarter standing at 917,000 Drams.

The Central Bank’s investments in financial instruments rose to 387.7 billion Drams from 351.3 billion Drams at the beginning of the quarter. The volume of available cash funds was 7.5 billion Drams on September 30, down from 7.6 billion Drams at the beginning of the quarter. Other reserves of the Central Bank in foreign currency rose by a factor of 3.5 to 1.3 billion Drams. Reserves in Drams rose to 188.2 billion Drams from 176 billion Drams at the beginning of the quarter.

According to the Central Bank data, the volume of credit investments and reverse REPO agreements rose by 13.1% or 7.6 billion Drams to 65.5 billion Drams as of September 30, 2010. Central Bank’s investments in Dram reserves, available for sale, rose to 93.2 billion Drams from 92.9 billion Drams. The volume of main funds and non-material assets stood at 21.2 billion Drams. Other reserves of the Central Bank in Drams rose from 2.65 billion Drams to 4.27 billion Drams. ($1 – 359.28 Drams).  -0-