ArmInfo. Foreign exchange loans accounted for 64% or 1.341tln drams of the total loan portfolio in the banking system of Armenia as of Nov 2016. The year-over-year growth is 9.5% and growth since the beginning of the year5.3%. The national currency loans accounted for 36% or 753bln drams of total with a 13.1% y-o- y growth and 12.9% growth since the beginning of the year.
According to data of the Central Bank of Armenia provided to ArmInfo by the National Statistics Service, the bank lending increased 9.9% y-o-y and 7.2% since the beginning of the year to 2.239 tln drams. The extended loans and NPL exclusive, the loans in the banking system of Armenia increased by 10.8% y-o-y and by 8% since the beginning of the year to 2.094tln drams.
As of November 2016, the extended loans and NPL accounted for 4.57% (5.67% a year ago and 5.29% in the beginning of the year) and 1.91% (1.56% a year ago and 1.81% in the beginning of the year) of total loans, respectively. The share of NPL of Armenian banks increased by 34.3% in year-over-year terms and by 12.8% by November 2016 to 42.7bln drams, amid 11.4% y-o-y decline of the extended loans and 7.5% since the beginning of the year to 102.3 bln drams. The extended loans and NPLs are mainly long- term loans.
According to the statistics, the average interest rate on the loans in terms of the national dram was 17.59% in October 2016 (versus 16.54 % a year ago and 15.36% in the beginning of the year). The exchange rate of the national dram against U.S. dollar was 475.14 AMD/1USD on October 31 2016.
