YEREVAN, April 4. /ARKA/. The Armenian government on Thursday decided to write off gold-backed loans given to residents of Nagorno-Karabakh before they were forcibly displaced from their homes in September 2023. The gold jewelry pledged as collateral will be returned to them.

According to the government's decision, loans not exceeding 5 million drams will be written off. For the loans exceeding 5 million drams, the government plans to organize a separate discussion.   

Armenian Finance Minister Vahe Hovhannisyan informed at the government session that based on the government's decision of December 28, 2023, the monetary claims of the government of Nagorno Karabakh and the funds created by it, as well as commercial banks, credit and insurance organizations of Armenia towards individuals were ceded to the Armenian government.

In return, treasury bonds were issued in favor of the latter. They also include credit liabilities of individuals who received loans from financial organizations of Armenia against the pledge of gold. 

These are credit liabilities of about 6 thousand citizens for a total amount of about 2.8 billion drams.

The minister also said that about 7,800 gold items weighing about 30 kg and belonging to about 1,800 citizens are currently stored in financial organizations. 

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, in his turn, added that the decision applies to those forcibly displaced from Karabakh who received loans in Armenian banks and credit organizations against the security of gold. ($1 - AMD 388.95). -0-