YEREVAN, 8 November. /ARKA/. Armenia's banking sector has the potential to reach a net profit target of $1 billion in 2025, Deputy Chairman of the Union of Banks of Armenia (UBA) Ruben Melikyan said Thursday.

‘The Armenian banking sector has shown a very big growth in net profit in recent years. The figure is currently stands at around $900 million and there is a potential to reach $1 billion in 2025,’ he said at a forum on ’Regional Challenges and Opportunities within the Framework of Cooperation with European banks.’

Various factors are contributing to this growth, Melikyan said, including strategic investments in IT infrastructure, which the banks have been implementing since 2016-2017.

‘In addition, the loan portfolio has doubled over the past five years, which has increased the banks‘ interest income,’ he said.

Among other factors, the deputy chairman pointed to the 7.8 per cent growth of the economy (in  2019), as well as the positive impact of Russians who arrived in Armenia after Russian invasion of Ukraine on the  country's economy.

According to the UBA, the banking sector’s net income in the first nine months of 2024 was $682 million, compared to $171 million in 2021, $581 million in 2022 and $586 million in 2023. -0-