YEREVAN, March 6. / ARKA /. Armenia’s national currency, the dram, was showing a clear devaluation trend in January and February this year, despite all the efforts of the Central Bank to hold it back.

On January 8 (the first working day of the year) one greenback traded at 405.95 drams; in February the exchange rate rose to 411.5 drams, an increase of 1.1 percent. On March 6, the average exchange rate of U.S. dollar stood at 414.66 drams, a 2.1 percent rise from the beginning of the year.

In an effort to stabilize the situation and support the dram, the Central Bank in February sold $61.5 million at the local forex market, including approximately $23.9 million in the last week of the month.

According to analysts, the depreciation of the Armenian dram is due to seasonally adjusted balance of payments and anticipated devaluation of the Russian ruble, which in the wave of events in Ukraine sharply devalued against the dollar and the euro to historic lows on March 3.

The Armenian government fears that the depreciation of the Russian ruble could negatively affect the domestic economy, first of all cut the amount of remittances sent home by Armenian labor migrants.

Weak ruble may also create problems for Armenian exporters because weak ruble can not boost exports. -0-