Wednesday, February 13 2019 13:43

ArmInfo. The economic revolution in Armenia should be funded by the country's commercial banks. Speaking in parliament on February 13, Prime Minister Nikol  Pashinyan said this when answering the question  Mp from the My Step  bloc Tatevik Gasparyan that the measures taken by the government of  the country have not yet affected the quality of life of citizens.

According to the MP, about 7 thousand beneficiaries were written off  credit debts amounting to about 7 billion drams, for another 134  thousand citizens credit histories were closed, mortgage rates were  reduced.  However, as Tatevik Gasparyan noted, all these measures  have not yet led to the desired results, and a conceptual solution to  the question of the availability of funds is necessary.

In response, the Prime Minister noted that this process had begun  recently, and time was needed to evaluate it. Nikol Pashinyan added  that the government of the country together with the Central Bank  will continue to implement a policy of gradually reducing interest  rates on loans. At present, he continued, there is a positive  phenomenon in the country's banking system, which is associated with  the offers of a number of banks to specific beneficiaries to repay  the loan debt, offering loans in return at lower interest rates.  "Does this mean that the citizen's financial burden has decreased? Of  course," the head of government noted, adding, "The program is  currently implementing a program to subsidize interest rates on  agricultural loans, mortgages, student loans, etc. Citizens take  loans, and rates of between 1 and 3 percent, which also reduces their  financial burden. This policy will continue in the future. "

In general, as noted by Nikol Pashinyan, interest rates tend to  decrease. Currently, there is a preliminary agreement with the  Central Bank on the allocation of 10 billion drams to finance the  microbusiness development program. The new loan portfolio will open  the way for those who want to start their business from scratch. In  solving this problem, the financial literacy of the beneficiaries is  also very important. In this regard, as Nikol Pashinyan noted,  jointly with the Central Bank, the implementation of a media outreach  program will begin. "It is unacceptable when a citizen, attracting  agricultural credit, directs financial resources to buy a jeep or  arrange a wedding," the head of government stated.

According to the Central Bank of Armenia, the volume of credit  investments of banks in 2018 increased by 17.2% to 2.8 trillion drams  ($ 5.8 billion). In particular, the volume of agro loans grew by 3.6%  to 136.2 billion drams ($ 282 million), consumer loans - by 37.1% to  701.1 billion drams ($ 1.4 billion), and mortgage loans - by 22.1% to  255.2 billion drams ($ 528 million). The interest rates on loans  decreased in 2018 on average from 12.1% to 10.5%, and for loans with  a maturity over 1 year from 12.6% to 10.9%.  Thus, for dram loans,  interest rates for the year decreased from an average of 14.5% to  12.5% (with a maturity of over 1 year - from 15.4% to 12.6%), and for  dollar loans - from 9.6% up to 8.6% (with a maturity of over 1 year -  from 9.8% to 9.2%). Three years earlier (2015), loan rates averaged  14.3%, in particular for dram loans - 17.7% and for dollar 10.9%, and  only for loans with a maturity of over 1 year - 14.5% (including on  dram - 17.2% and on dollar - 11.8%).