YEREVAN, April 22. / ARKA /. Armenian commercial banks’ overall credit investments in the first quarter of 2015 dropped by 3.54% from the beginning of the year to 2.075.6 trillion drams, according to ARKA news agency’s latest issue of Financial and Economic Bulletin (Armenian banks performance indicators for the first quarter of 2015).

The banks blame the drop on worsening economic situation in the country, as well as on financial shocks triggered by the dramatic depreciation of the national currency, the dram, in late 2014. Besides, in order to alleviate the pressure on the currency market, the Central Bank raised the foreign currency reserve requirement, which resulted in a shortage of dram liquidity and a fall in total lending.

According to the quarterly data, , out of 21 commercial banks operating in Armenia 17 banks reduced lending.

Against the backdrop of falling credit investments the share of non-performing loans has increased. According to the Central Bank, their share was 8.4% in the total volume of lending, up from previous figure of 5-6%.

As a result of all these factors, Armenian banks’ combined net profit in the first quarter of 2015 slashed by 75% to about 2.5 billion drams from over 9 billions in the first quarter of 2014. Seven of 21 commercial banks closed the first quarter with a total loss of 6.3 billion drams. In the first quarter of 2014 five banks reported a total loss of 2.2 billion drams.

The banks also reported a 3.4% drop in their total assets from the beginning of the year to 3.273 trillion drams. Their liabilities fell by 4.4% to about 2.8 trillion drams and their obligations to customs decreased by 4.4% to over 1.6 trillion drams.-0-