YEREVAN, March 12. /ARKA/. The loans extended to Armenia’s agriculture sector total AMD 52 billion now, Arthur Stepanyan, chief of the central bank’s division in charge of monetary policy, said Saturday at a news conference.
 
He said he meant farms alone, without processing industry and other areas related to agriculture.
 
Stepanyan said that the lending to agriculture would grow.
 
In his opinion, interest rates on loans intended for agriculture are unlikely to be raised. He said the bulk of these loans are extended in the national currency.
 
He said that special attention should be paid to the agriculture, since developments in this area impact inflation.
 
According to the central bank’s figures, annual interest rate on loans extended for up to one year averaged 23.4%, and that on loans extended for one-to-five-year terms 21.9% in December 2010.
 
Agricultural loans were extended at 15% for one year and 18.3% for one-to-five-year terms.
 
On Friday, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan called on Arthur Javadyan, chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia to spur banks’ attention to agriculture sector. ($1 = AMD 368.1).-0---