YEREVAN, December 4. /ARKA./ Armenian banks’ lending to customers outside the capital city and in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic was higher than in Yerevan, according to a Central Bank’s study on composition and structure of credit investments and borrowed funds of banks and credit organizations from June 2014 to June 2015.

According to the study, credit investments to customers in Yerevan increased by 6.3% to 77.8 billion drams, while credit investments to customers in Armenian provinces and in NKR increased by 14.3% to 89.9 billion drams.

Credit investments in Yerevan made 64.8% of total credit investments of banks and credit organizations during the reporting period of time. The study says also that credit investments in NKR, Vayots Dzor, Syunik and Aragatsotn province grew by 21.2%, 29.9%, 25% and 21.8% respectively.

The growth of credit investments in Yerevan resulted from increased lending to services providing companies, as well as from consumer and trade financing, where they grew by 37.2%, 10.7% and 8.2%, respectively.

In 10 Armenian provinces and NKR the growth of credit investments resulted from increased lending to industry (19.5%) and agriculture (21.4%). The highest rate of growth in industry lending was recorded in NKR and Armenian provinces of Shirak and Ararat.

The highest rate of agricultural lending growth was reported in Kotayk, Ararat and Aragatsotn provinces of Armenia. During the reporting period, the amount of lending to SMEs was about 507.3 billion drams, or 24.9% of the total credit investments.

According to the study, total credit investments of Armenian banks in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh during the reporting period amounted to 2 trillion and 40 billion drams, having increased by 9%. ($ 1- 484.59 drams). -0-