YEREVAN, March 14. /ARKA/. The rise in the number of savings deposits in Armenian banks over the past five years is not an effective indicator and can not be viewed as a sign of improving lives of  Armenian citizens, a former prime minister Hrant Bagratian, told a news conference today.
"The total amount of money on savings deposits has increased from 490 billion drams to 900 billion drams over the past five years, while their growth over the past 10 years was 18-20%, but I estimate this growth as weak," he said.
Bagratian argued that the growth should have been much higher, as seen in other countries with economies in transition. To substantiate, he cited Russia’s example where he said the amount of money on savings deposits surged by 18 times from 2000 to 2008, while in 2011 alone they increased by 35%.
According to the Central Bank of Armenia, the aggregate amount of savings deposits in Armenian banks on December 31, 2011 was over 983 billion drams, having increased  by 40% from 2010. Compared with 2006 the rise was 3 times. ($1-389.67 drams). -0-