YEREVAN, October 24. /ARКА/. Armenian Central Bank's forex reserves stand now at record $487.7 million, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told the parliament today. He said the regulator replenished the forex reserves to this 'unprecedented' level after buying a substantial amount of foreign currency.

'This is a very important indicator, because we had concerns and suggestions that after the end of the tourism season we were going to have a downward trend. But we are getting signals that the tourism season may last 12 months and these are very positive messages," said Pashinyan.

For his part, Central Bank chairman Artur Javadyan added that the regulator has never had this much of forex reserves, even in 2004-2006, when the national currency, the dram, was very strong.

“This suggests that there is no outflow of forex from the country, as many of our opponents claim, but, on the contrary, there is an inflow. This amount is channeled into the economy. We get a double effect - on the one hand, we are fighting against dollarization and on the other hand, we are pouring money into the economy," Javadyan said.

He also noted that in September 2019, compared with September 2018, international foreign exchange reserves grew by $230 million. In October the figures will be even higher, and by the end of the year the Central bank's forex reserve will be even higher . --0—