YEREVAN, February 8. /ARKA/. Interest rates on mortgage loans in Armenia are affordable and almost equal to those in other countries of the region, Nerses Yeritsyan, deputy chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia, said Tuesday in the National Assembly.

Mortgage loans in drams, he said, are now available at 12% annual interest rate for ten years and mortgage loans in dollars are offered even at lower rates.

Besides, thanks to some government support programs, mortgage lending is available at 6.5 to 8 percent interest rates for 10 to 20 years.

“Such loans are quite affordable to young families and specialists who are included in the program,” Yeritsyan said.

In his words, interest rates on mortgage loans in Armenia are equal to rates in neighboring countries and even lower than in Russia and Belarus, excluding government programs, where they are lower.

Speaking about lending terms, he said that a ten-year period is quite normal and acceptable in terms of risks.

Yeritsyan said that important are rates on deposits, which are quite high now, showing that savings in the country are scant and that they should be built up.

“Today the central bank has no artificial mechanisms for driving banks’ interest rates down, especially taking into account that margins in interest rates are narrow – 0.5 to 0.8%,” he said adding that that therefore the authorities created a government support opportunity for young families.

Hayk Voskanyan,, executive director of the National Mortgage Company CJSC, expects increase in demand for mortgage loans in the next two or three years.

The structure of mortgage lending, he said, is expected to change soon in favor of loans in the national currency thanks to the National Mortgage Company’s lending programs and “Available Housing to Young Families” program, which will allow the market to rally.

According to the central bank, mortgage lending by Armenian banks amounted to AMD 183.6 billion in late December 2016 showing a 2.6-percent year-on-year growth.

Credit organizations’ mortgage lending grew 17.3% to AMD 24.1 billion.

Loans expended by Armenia’s commercial banks totaled AMD 2.4 trillion in 2016 – 14.9% more than in 2015.

As many as 17 commercial banks operate in Armenia now. ($1 – AMD 486.07). M.V.---0---