YEREVAN, January 20. /ARKA/. Rates will rise in Armenia’s financial market already in February-March, member of Anelik Bank board Nerses Karamanukyan told reporters on Monday.

Rate change is required in relation to the forex reserve requirement being increased for banks by the central bank (by 20%), he said.

Many Armenian banks have already raised dram deposit rates as they will continue their local currency financing, Karamanukyan said adding replenishment of dram resources is now a priority to Armenian banks.

According to the banker, increased demand for dram deposits will lead to rise in dram loan rates. After Moody’s downgraded Armenia’s rating from Ba2 to Ba3 and the outlook from stable to negative, costs of international funding will rise slightly, he said.

This, in turn, will make dollar loan rates rise, and that is what is happening now, according to the banker.
Prices for some banking services are expected to rise negligibly in February-March, he said.

Karamanukyan has not ruled out that dollar loan rates may reduce somehow as banks focus mainly on funding in national currency.

Privileges to forex loan borrowers due to major dram depreciation are currently considered by the bank and interest of clients will be a priority in making the respective decisions, Karamanukyan said.

Anelik Bank was established on July 9, 1990 and registered on October 1, 1991. In October 1996, the bank got its license from the Central Bank of Armenia. Anelik Bank’s shares belong to Lebanese CreditBank.

The bank’s assets totalled about AMD 87 billion in 2014 (a 45% growth from the beginning of the year) and liabilities were AMD 72.6 billion (a 54.6% growth). Its capital amounted to 14.4 billion (a 10.2% increase) and loan portfolio AMD 58.6 billion (a 51.8% growth). Liabilities to clients amounted to 48.5 bln drams (46% increase). The bank earned 335.2 mln drams in net profit in 2014 compared to 1,444.2mln drams in loss the year before. ($1- 478.28 drams). –0--