YEREVAN, July 20. /ARKA/. Banks' interest rates on short-term loans in Armenia shed in June lower than ever, according to the central bank's figures.

The average interest rate on up-to-one-year loans in drams stood at 12.26% in June 2018 hitting the record low since 2000.

The average interest rate on dram-denominated up-to-one-year loans went 1.48 percentage points down in June 2018, compared with the previous month, 1.6 p.p., compared with January 2018, and 4.47 p.p., compared with the same month five years earlier.

The average interest rate on long-term loans (longer than one year) slid 0.1 percentage points in June 2018, compared with the previous month, 0.81 p.p., compared with January 2018, and 4.62 p.p., compared with the same month five years ago.

The interest rate on USD-denominated short-term loans stood at 8.5% in June 2018, after shedding 0.22 percentage points over one month, while interests on long-term dollar loans rose 0.23 p.p. to 9.31%.

In March 2017, the Central Bank of Armenia weakened its monetary policy by setting the key refinancing rate at 6%. This rate has not been changed since then, while in 2016, it has been downed eight times. --0---