YEREVAN, August 23. /ARKA/. The loan portfolios of Armenian commercial banks grew by 14.4% in 2019 July as opposed to 2018 July, the head of the Union of Banks of Armenia and CEO of Ameriabank Artak Hanesyan told reporters today. He added that he does not share the opinion that the expectations of Armenian banks from the economy and lending rate were low.

"We are optimistic about economic growth and were not mistaken in our estimates, which is reflected in the growth rates in various sectors, as well as in the growing interest of customers in various banking services," Hanesyan said.

According to him, the mortgage market has become much more active, with rising real estate prices and sharp increase in mortgage lending.

He said the trend began last year and continues to this day. 'Today, the proposal does not manage to meet demand. Other lending areas are also growing, and there is an increase in the business sector, in the demand for loans," Hanesyan said.

He said a lot of transactions have been completed in August and although it is yet over, the number of transactions is already comparable to that in 2018 December (the most active month in terms of banking transactions) and continues to grow.

'We expect this autumn to be more impressive both in terms of bank customer numbers and in terms of the number of services and the volume of transactions.' he said.

He noted that the data analysis has not yet been completed, but customers have become more active in using banking services and this applies not only to consumer transactions, but also to various transactions, from money transfers to creating one's own small business.

"In fact, electronic commerce is becoming more active, and there are great expectations for the development of this sector," Hanesyan said.

According to the latest data of the Central Bank of Armenia, as of May 2019, banks and credit organizations issued loans worth 318.2 billion drams, against 243.4 billion drams in May 2018. In fact, in May 2019, the growth in mortgage lending compared to the same period in 2018 amounted to 31%. ($1 - 475.91 dram). --0--