YEREVAN, July 4./ARKA/. The analysts of Areximbank-Gazprombank Group don’t foresee the interest rates for loans and deposits may change by the end of this year, said deputy director general of the bank Vigen Barseghyan.

“Interest rates actually somehow depend on the economic situation within a country as well as foreign markets. An interest rate appears as an objective figure which is defined by the market itself.

When we state a high level of rates, we should at the same time mention the index to which we correlate the level of loan interest rates. If we speak about high level of loan risks in Armenia, it means the interest rates should meet credit risk indices,” the bank quoted Barseghyan as saying.

In addition, banks, according to him, should offer an appropriate margin to ensure efficiency of their performance first of all, and to minimize some risks which can arise during lending.

“The monetary policy of the Central Bank aims to stabilize the banking system. This is absolutely true. In other words, the policy is to stabilize the credit market and encourage banks to ensure all the planned coefficient growth. The commercial banks learn beforehand about all normative changes initiated by the Central Bank. And if any of the banks fails to adapt to the new conditions, it signals about low system management of such bank,” Barseghyan said.

According to the regulator, an average interest rate for deposits in Armenia as of May was 8.9% (for AMD deposits the valid period of which is up to 1 year, it was 10.04%, for USD deposits -5.28%; for AMD deposits the valid period of which is over 1 year, it was 12.39%, for USD deposits-8%).

An average interest rate for loans as of May was 13.9% (for AMD loans with the maturity period of up to 1 year, it was 16.04%, USD loans-10.72%; for AMD loans the maturity period of which is over 1 year, it was 16.55%, and USD loans-12.58%).

Areximbank-Gazprombank Group was established in 1998 for supporting entrepreneurship and serving financial flows between Russia and Armenia. Russia’s Gazprombank has been the sole owner of the bank since 2007. The bank has successfully passed ISO 9001: 2008 certification on compliance with international requirements. The bank has 16 branches, including those in 9 regions of Armenia. Seven branches are located in Armenia’s capital Yerevan. -0-