Tuesday, August 2 2011 16:02
ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank 7.5 billion AMD loans under state program on subsidizing agriculture loans
ArmInfo. Under the state program on subsidizing of agricultural loans, ACBA Credit Agricole Bank provided loans worth 7.5 billion AMD, Director General of ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank Stepan Gishyan told ArmInfo.
According to him, initially the bank was going to provide credits worth a total of 5 billion AMD, however, thanks to the active demand, the plan during the spring sowing season was overfulfiled. "We expect the government to start the second stage of the given program in autumn, in which we will also participate", Gishyan stressed.
To recall, since April 1 2011 several banks have started financing the farm entities under the state program. The total volume of loans provided under this program amounted to about 10 bln AMD. The amount of budget subsidizing is 250 mln AMD. Under the state program on lending, ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank, Ardshininvestbank, Converse Bank and ProCredit Bank are providing loans for agriculture at present.
By the government's decision, the loans are provided at the interest rate of 14% p.a., of which 4% is subsidized by the state. The credits are provided with grace periods. In particular, the payment of amounts will start in 6 months, and no less than one year is provided for redemption of the loans. Under the program of subsidizing agricultural loans, the government determined 200 villages, in which the living standard is the lowest. The state subsidizes 6% p.a. for the residents of these villages.
Earlier Chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia Artur Javadyan said that under the state program on subsidizing the agricultural loans, the lion's share of the funds - 90% was placed by ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank. ProCredit Bank ranks next. Ardshininvestbank occupies the third place and Converse Bank - the fourth place. According to the Ranking of Commercial Banks of Armenia by the Agency of Rating Marketing Information (ArmInfo), as of 1 April 2011, ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank was in the lead by its credit portfolio - 119.7 bln AMD ($323.9 mln) or 71.7% of the bank's assets. In the structure of credit portfolio the share of agricultural loans made up 27.8% - 30.9 bln AMD, by which the bank occupied the leading positions in the Armenian banking system.