Ameriabank news

At this stage, the banking system is showing some caution in terms of lending, Ameriabank General Director Artak Hanesyan said at the press conference held today, answering the journalists' question.
"Basically, this caution is related to borrowers' creditworthiness assessments. Logically, servicing foreign currency loans becomes even more difficult due to these exchange rate fluctuations. But at the same time, not only by our bank, but I'm sure, by other banks, special programs are being developed on how to mitigate these phenomena for individual customers who are served with loans denominated in foreign currency. According to our experts, in the case of slightly extending the terms of various loans, creating such a situation that the borrower repays the same amount expressed in AMD, which he was repaying before the exchange rate change, can lead to easing the borrowers' burden of servicing the loan," Hanesyan said.
According to him, banks today treat creditworthiness assessments more strictly, restraining possible future risks. As for the volume of lending in general, Artak Hanesyan said that on behalf of Ameriabank, he can state that they have not stopped lending, they continue. This year, Ameriabank's credit investments are expected to increase, not as much as last year, but growth is planned nonetheless.
In response to the journalists' question, Artak Hanesyan also referred to the policy of raising the refinancing rate by the Central Bank. When asked what effect this will have on loan interest rates, the CEO of Ameriabank answered:
"Of course, it was reflected. Of course, I think that it is a temporary phenomenon, it cannot be maintained at such a level for a long time, but it had an impact. Banks are Iranianizing the reserves in drams against funds raised in foreign currency and with an already increased interest rate, which, of course, had an effect on the cost of foreign currency deposits to increase. In other words, the interest rates that are publicly stated as the borrowing rate are actually higher on the bank due to other factors."
According to Artak Hanesyan, the interest rates of loans should also increase automatically so that banks can maintain their minimum effectiveness level. "Therefore, in the near future we will also notice a slight increase in the interest rates of foreign currency denominated loans. But on the other hand, due to very little increase in dram-denominated loan interest rates, deposit interest rates have increased comparatively more. Now, the interest rates of deposits expressed in drams, both short-term and long-term, compared to the same period last year, have increased quite a bit, if I'm not mistaken, at least 4-5 percent. This closes the possible increase in the interest rates of dram lending," said the General Director of Ameriabank.

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