YEREVAN, December 15. /ARKA/. Sharp currency rate fluctuations are not in the interest of Armenia’s banks as they lead to higher risks that are less manageable, head of the Union of Banks of Armenia Samvel Chzmachyan said, as reported by Golos Armeniyi newspaper.

Hence, actions are taken to mitigate fluctuations, to help banks’ clients and the entire population exchange money at best acceptable rates, to stop the panic and suppress speculative sentiments, he said as cited by the newspaper.

Armenian dram hit an eight-year record high after November 24, having jumped by 16.6 points to 435drams per $1. The newspaper says the panic spread out afterwards was spurred by entities and individuals who had free money and decided to make much of it quickly.

Under these uncertainty conditions and increasing risks the banks continued selling dollars, Chzmachyan said. They bought 70 million dollars only, and sold a double of it, 145 million, he added.

According to the head of the Union of Banks, it was well justified when banks preferred some of their clients over the others at a time and put restrictions in place to reduce speculations.

This is a correct approach that has been used in different periods of time, Chzmachyan said. –0—