YEREVAN, December 9. /ARKA/. There is no outflow of funds from Armenian banks, and the total  bank deposits have grown over 3.5 trillion drams, despite a difficult year and certain fluctuations, Executive Director of the Union of Banks of Armenia Seyran Sargsyan told reporters on Wednesday during a video conference organized by the Club of Economic Journalists.

“In the first three months of 2020, individual bank deposits increased, however, in April, due to the coronavirus pandemic, they sharply decreased and there was a small outflow, but in May and June the overall amount of deposits grew again,” Sargsyan said.

He noted that a certain decrease was registered in August, even before the start of the war in Artsakh, however, over the first ten months of 2020 the total amount of deposits  decreased by only 2%.

“This is  a minor change that is natural in the event of coronavirus crisis and the war. The volume of deposits has remained in the banking system, and we expect that in the near future there will be no significant changes,” Sargsyan said.

He noted that today bank deposits amount to over 3.5 trillion drams, of which about 53%  in foreign currency, and 47% in Armenian drams.

According to him, money transfers through the banks  practically did not undergo serious changes either and  in general there is no outflow of deposits and other funds through the banking system.

According to founder of the School of Banking Management Ashot Osipyan, deposits are growing all over the world, as people cut costs amid uncertainty, preferring to place their money in deposits.

According to him, this is also associated with investment problems during this period.

 “As for Armenia, it is too early to talk about such a trend here, since we are in a waiting period. Therefore, it is necessary to get out of the period of turmoil as quickly as possible in order to ensure development and eliminate negative factors, ”said Osipyan.  ($1 - 515.48 drams). –0--