Friday, April 27 2012 20:09
Toughened competition among Armenian banks to lead to fault-finding of bank customers
ArmInfo. The toughened competition among the Armenian banks will lead to the fault- finding of bank customers and will make them more active, Tigran Jrbashyan, Development Director of Ameria Group, told ArmInfo when asked about the trends of development expected in the credit market for 2012.
"Given this circumstance, Ameriabank has been committed to the client-oriented strategy of activity for 4 years, and this strategy has completely proved its value. We have nearly 37 thsd customers, over Q1 2012 their number grew by 10%", he said.
"One should not expect reduction of interest rates, taking into account the Central Bank's policy, which toughened the refinancing rate and the reserve requirements. This makes us be more careful towards lending and consider our risks more thoroughly", Jrbashyan said.
On the other hand, the interest rates will not decline due to the big demand for credit resources and the tough restriction of supply, he said.
As regards the Central Bank's toughening of the reserve requirement with gradual transition to AMD reserving, Jrbashyan said that it will intensify the process of dedollarization of the liability side of the Bank's balance. "It will be profitable for the banks to attract AMD deposits. Certainly, it will lead to stabilization of USD interest rates for the deposits and will raise the rates for direct deposits", Jrbashyan said.
To note, on 8 Feb 2011 the Central Bank toughened the reserve requirements: 9% for AMD and 3% for foreign exchange against the former 6% for AMD and 6% for foreign exchange.
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