YEREVAN, June 6. /ARKA/. The current devaluation of the Armenian dram has mainly been triggered by the recent parliamentary elections, Bagrat Asatryan, a former central bank chairman, said Wednesday at a news conference.

“Outside factors certainly impact us, but the elections have stricken us harder,” he said. “Cash in circulation grew precipitously in May 2012, just as in 2007. As a rule, cash in hand grows 1-2% in April and May, but in years of elections it grows 5-6%. In early May 2012, however, cash grew 10% in a few days.”

Asatryan is convinced that election bribery added a great deal to this growth.
At the same time, he said that national currencies were devaluating also in other countries, particularly in Russia, where the ruble plunged about 10% against the dollar in the recent three weeks.

“We are connected with Russia’s economy, but the devaluation of the ruble was prompted by a mere factor – a 25-percent fall in oil prices.”

Economist Tatul Manaseryan, head of Alternative analysis center, shared the opinion that cash in circulation has a strong impact on the economy, but also said that other economic factors should be taken into account as well.

He pointed out fluctuations in dollar and the euro exchange rates as major cause of devaluation of the Armenian national currency.

“If we compare it with other currencies, we’ll see no dramatic fluctuations in the dram/euro exchange rate,” Manaseryan said adding that former soviet nations’ currencies are devaluating as well.

The Armenian dram plunged 16.21 points from 392.13 drams to 408.34 drams per one U.S. dollar.
On June 5, the dollar traded at 408.34 drams – the record high since the elections. ($1 – AMD 408.34 ).-0--