YEREVAN, May 13. /ARKA/. Interest rates on loans provided by commercial banks to private persons in 2016 March  were slightly lower  when compared to April,  according to  Central Bank of Armenia data.

In March interest rates on loans to individuals in Armenian drams repayable in less than 12 months  decreased by 0.9 percentage points to 21.1%, while loans in USD fell by 0.7 percentage points to 14.2%.

Interest rates on loans provided to individuals  with a repayment period above 12 months decreased by 0.5 percentage points  to 19%, while loans in USD  remained unchanged at 15.4%.

Interest rates on mortgage loans in drams remained unchanged at 12.7%, while loans in USD  rose by 0.7 percentage points to 13.3%. Interest rates on consumer loans to individuals in drams decreased 0.6 percentage point to 20%, while loans in USD fell by 0.3 percentage points to 15.3%.

In general, in March, interest rates on loans in drams repayable in less than 12 months decreased by 0.07 percentage points to 19.11%, while loans in USD fell by 0.26 percentage points to 7.96%.

At the same time interest rates on loans in drams repayable in more than 12 months decreased 0.56 percentage points to 18.21%, and loans in USD  increased by 1.91 percentage points up to 10.93%.
In March, the Central bank cut its refinancing rate from 8.5% to 8.25%. -0-