YEREVAN, July 12. /ARKA/. Areximbank-Gazprombank Group has reliable mechanisms to protect its clients from foreign exchange exposure, said Narine Sargsyan, chief of financial market operations division at the bank.

“Our bank has been practicing reliable mechanisms for several years to protect the savings of our clients and diversify their foreign exchange risks,” she noted.

The foreign exchange and gold markets are facing high volatility these days, according to her.
“As a result of the current situation at the market, the expectations for exchange rates of the main currencies are very contradictory and the deposits of the clients, which make some significant portion in the commitments of the banking system, are constantly being converted from one currency into another,” the bank’s press office quoted Sargsyan as saying.

Despite some higher AMD deposit interest rates, the portion of the deposits in foreign currencies is still bigger, she added.

She has also said as to the savings of the citizens, it will be rational to diversify the risks amid the market situation volatility and teetering in foreign currency rates. It means it will be appropriate to save money in both, national and foreign currencies, particularly USD as for foreign currency, as USD plays more important role in Armenian economy, and there are very few deposits in other foreign currency than USD and volatility risk is higher here.

Today, banks offer to their clients converted deposits. It means the clients can convert their savings to other currency without losing accrued interests.

“We have some other mechanisms in our bank too which allow us to protect the savings of our customers –intangible metal accounts and “Gold standard” deposit. One can attach the account or deposit amount with gold prices and get additional revenue based on gold fluctuations,” she noted.

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-