ArmInfo. Were it not for the measures of the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA), the exchange rate might not only exceed 500 AMD against USD, but might also reach 540 AMD/1USD even now, economist and ex-lawmaker Vardan Bostanjyan said at a press conference on February 17.
"Due to its monetary policy, the CBA is doing everything possible to prevent the Armenian dram from sharp depreciation and to mitigate the inflationary pressure. Otherwise, Armenia would share the fate of many countries of the region," he said. The economist is sure that the exchange rate will all the same exceed 500 AMD/USD, but this should happen smoothly.
To note, in 2016 the biggest CBA interventions were fixed on January 15 - $32.4 mln, January 29 - $23.8 mln, February 5 - $26.5 mln and February 12 - $16.2 mln. In 2015, the biggest interventions were registered on August 28 - $95 mln, September 19 - $22.2 mln, November 13 - $19.6 mln, October 2 - $6 mln and December 11 - $6 mln. Since early 2016, the exchange rate on the retail forex market has risen from 482 to 496 AMD/1USD.