Tuesday, December 9 2014 17:11
On Dec 9 Central Bank of Armenia sold $6 million at the exchange rate of 458.31 AMD/1 USD in course of intervention
ArmInfo. On December 9, the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) sold $6 million to the participating banks at the average exchange rate of 458.31 AMD/1 USD in the course of intervention in the interbank currency market. The CBA press service has told ArmInfo that the cut-off price was 457.57 AMD/1 USD.
Currency market experts say that despite the small interventions of the CBA, the AMD devaluation has slowed down to some extent. However, to restore the balance in the currency market, not only daily but also more serious interventions are needed.
According to the CBA's statement dated 8 December 2014, on 8 December, the Central Bank of Armenia launched daily interventions to restore the balance in the exchange market and the soften currency fluctuations. The interventions will last till the end of 2014. The CBA will continue announcing the ceiling of daily sale amounts till the end of the year to normalize the situation in the exchange market of Armenia. According to the source, the CB will be publishing foreign exchange operations to ensure transparency in the financial market of Armenia. The daily intervention amounts will be reduced gradually until the national currency exchange rate is balanced. The goal is to reduce the CB's influence on formation of the national currency exchange rate.
On December 9, in the retail market of Armenia the AMD/USD exchange rate exceeded 461 AMD/1USD with over13% devaluation for the last 2.5 months. As of 4:40 pm, the exchange rates at swap bodies were as follows: 460/463 AMD/1 USD, 564/570 AMD/1 EUR, 8.45/8.50 AMD/1 RUR. The optimal rates at the banks of Armenia were as follows: USD was purchased for 456 AMD (ceiling), EUR - 561 AMD, RUR - 8.42 AMD. The lowest rates of sale were as follows: 458 AMD/1 USD, 569 AMD/1 EUR, 8.54 AMD/1 RUR. At NASDAQ OMX Armenia, from June through December 9, foreign exchange operations amounted to $396.5 million drams with the exchange rating growing from 407.14 - 438.62 AMD/1 USD. No transactions were registered after December 1. The transactions in November alone totaled nearly $117 million drams. Last week (1-5 Dec), interbank market of foreign exchange operations registered a record-breaking indicator - $59.3 million, which resulted in a 442.42 AMD/1USD exchange rate. In this light, the stock exchange started the week with transactions in the amount of $3.5 million (1 Dec) with no deals for the following days.
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