Tuesday, February 21 2012 19:38
Ashot Osipyan: Risk management remains the key task of Armenian banking system
ArmInfo. The key task of the Armenian banking system within the short-term outlook is risk management, President of the Union of Banks of Armenia Ashot Osipyan said during a press-conference on Tuesday.
He pointed out that in particular, risk management includes use of stress tests, liquidity management and management of credit risks. "The banking system of Armenia was able to avoid the negative phenomena and shocks observed in the European financial markets, but risk management was and is the priority task", he stressed.
According to Osipyan, the most risky sphere of lending for the banks is the agrarian sector mostly due to weather and seasonal factors.
According to the Ranking of Commercial Banks of Armenia by the Agency of Rating Marketing Information (ArmInfo), over 2011 the volume of overdue loans in agriculture grew almost twice to 9% of the total volume of overdue loans of the banking system. The small share of these loans is explained by the comparatively small period of active lending to this sphere. In addition, in 2011 the state program on subsidizing of the agriculture loans was launched.