YEREVAN, March 16. /ARKA/. Lending volumes have grown in Armenia in early 2021, Chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia Martin Galstyan said on Tuesday.

According to him, lending in February 2021 compared to February 2020 grew by 11% or  about 375 billion drams.  He noted also that lending to legal entities increased by 11.3%, and to individuals by 9.4%.

Galstyan said one of the messages conveyed to him by commercial bank executives is that the government-designed measures to offset the consequences of the coronavirus crisis were essential for growth of their lending portfolios.

In total, the Armenian government approved 25 programs to counter the socio-economic consequences of the coronavirus crisis.

Some were meant to support agriculture, tourism, SMEs,  microbusiness, IT and other industries, others were aimed at providing  social support for various groups of the population.

Some of the programs have already been completed, some have been expanded, while  the government is discussing new opportunities for assistance to citizens. ($ 1 - 527.69 drams). -0-