YEREVAN, November 22. /ARKA/. In an exclusive interview with ARKA news agency, Dmitry Pankin, President of the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB), said Armenia’s banking sector is in good condition, and in many respects it should be credited to the Central Bank of the country.

‘There is a very clear supervision of the banking sector, banks have good capitalization and a small amount of bad debts. This is a rare example when the banking system is fine in a small country like Armenia,’ he said.

He said apart from lending to Armenian banks, BSTDB participate also in a syndicate of banks set up for the lending to the airport. He said the Bank would like to reorient its focus on infrastructure projects and is currently negotiating a string of projects in the fields of energy, telecommunications, food and products processing.

He also said that the cumulative funding to Armenian companies amounts to about 267 million euros. Currently, the amount of signed projects is estimated approximately at 130 million euros. About 83 million euros have already been released.

‘This is a lot given that Armenia accounts for about 6.5% in the loan portfolio of the Bank, while its share in the shareholder structure is only 0.5%,’ Pankin said.

In comments on Armenia’s public debt, which now makes 56.6% of GDP according to WB estimates, Pankin said it does not look hopeless. ‘Of course, 57% is a serious figure, but this is not a catastrophe. It does not mean that urgent measures should be taken to reduce the debt. The state budget is balanced, and we do not expect a large deficit. In such a situation, the main thing is not to take steps that could lead to an additional increase in public debt without an increase in economic growth,’ he said. -0-