YEREVAN, November 25. / ARKA /. Armenian Araratbank has announced a new type of deposit for legal entities called "Ararat Business" at 11.5% annual interest rate, the bank told ARKA today.

According to the Central Bank of Armenia, the average interest rate on long-term deposits IN Armenian dram for legal entities is 9, 5%, the interest rate on deposits in foreign currency is 6.7%.

The bank’s press service said deposits are accepted both in Armenian drams and U.S. dollars for a period of 31 days to 3 years; the minimum deposit amount should be 400 thousand drams or its equivalent in U.S. dollars.

"This type of deposit allows depositors not only to double the amount on the deposit, but also to collect 20 percent of the initial deposit with preservation of interest," it said.

The interest on the customer's request can be withdrawn monthly, quarterly, or be capitalized.

If the deposit amount exceeds 20 million drams, or 50 thousand U.S. dollars, the annual interest rate is added by another 0.5%.

Araratbank, previously called Haykap Bank, was founded in 1991 and provides a full range of banking services to corporate, MSME and retail customers. The bank has established a reputation as a small but reliable and dynamically growing financial institution. EBRD holds 25% in Araratbank. The rest is held by Barsegh Beglarian, head of the biggest petrol importing company Flash.

According to ARKA data, on September 30, 2011 its assets totaled more than 66.9 billion drams, liabilities stood at about 55.3 billion drams, total capital was 11.7 billion drams, and the authorized capital was about 7.2 billion drams. Its outstanding credit portfolio stood at 35 billion drams, liabilities to clients at 38.7 billion drams, and net profit for the first nine months of 2011 exceeded 1.7 billion drams. The bank has 35 branches. ($1 - 383.36 AMD). -0-