YEREVAN, May 13. /ARKA/. In the first quarter of 2022 the total capital of all 17 Armenia-based commercial banks reached about AMD 1.1 trillion, the executive director of the Union of Armenian Banks (UBA) Seyran Sargsyan said today.

The total capital of Armenian banks increased by 15.4% or 147 billion drams in the first quarter and by 20.4% or 186 billion drams as of March 31, 2021, he said.

"This is a key indicator, a guarantee of  the stability of the banking sector," Sargsyan said.

He also said that the banks' assets in the first quarter increased by 1.4 percent, or 97 billion drams, to about 7.2 trillion drams. Compared to the first quarter of last year, the figure rose by 7.6%, or 508 billion drams.

As of March 31, 2022 the banks' lending  totaled some 4.1 trillion drams, up 3.1% or 123 billion drams from the previous quarter. It was down  0.7% or 27 billion drams compared to the same period last year.

Deposits recorded a decline of 1.04% or 42 billion drams to about 4 trillion drams in the first quarter. Compared with the first quarter of 2021, they were up  7.6% or 281 billion drams.

According to the UBA, the profit of the Armenian banks in the  first quarter of 2022 amounted to 30.8 billion drams. All the banks run as many as 545 branches, employing 12.7 thousand people. The number of accounts in the banks stands at  about 6.7 million ($1 - 460.13 drams). -0-