YEREVAN, December 16 , / ARKA / . The amount of lending provided by 21 Armenia-based commercial banks to residents increased by 5.7 percent in the first ten months of the year to 1.602.8 trillion drams, the Central Bank said in a statement posted on its official website.

The loans to residents provided in the national currency, the dram, surged by 9.2 percent compared with the beginning of the year, to more than 588.2 billion drams. The lending in foreign currency increased by 3.7 % to about 1.014.6 trillion drams.

According to the Central Bank, consumer loans accounted for 21.47 % of the total lending. Their amount grew by 21 percent to 344.27 billion drams in late October.

The amount of lending to industry dropped by almost 9 percent to 340.9 billion drams. Loans to industry accounted for 21.26 % of the total lending.

Industry was followed by trade sector, which accounted for 21.2% of the total lending. Trade lending was said to have risen by almost 6 percent from the beginning of the year to about 340 billion drams.

Mortgage loans totaled 139.7 billion drams (up 9.6%), construction loans upped by 2.5 percent to 102.6 billion drams, agricultural lending grew by 7.3 percent to 98.6 billion drams, , service loans upped by 4.3 percent to 89.7 billion drams, loans to transport and communications sector fell by 1 percent to 39.2 billion drams.

Lending to other sectors soared by 32.8 percent to 107.6 billion drams. ($ 1 - 404.95 drams). -0 -