Expert: Armenian issuer`s bond market expected to increase in number of issuers

ArmInfo.  The Armenian bond  market will become more active due to the increase in the number of  issuers and tranches. "Even in the banking system of Armenia, the  potential has not been fully utilized," the representative of the  NasDaq OMX Armenia stock exchange, Karen Zakaryan, said in an  interview with ArmInfo correspondent.

"We have quite a large deposit base in our country and not many banks  have yet entered the market with their debt securities. But I'm sure  they are already tuning in to this. Not all banks are active, some  require more time to implement such an initiative, "he said. If a  significant part of the deposits is converted into bonds, according  to K. Zakaryan, banks will be able to form long-term liquidity, which  is impossible to achieve when working with deposits. "If the issuing  bank raised funds from the stock market for 2 years, then it can  dispose of them throughout this period, and in the case of deposits,  it is possible to withdraw these amounts from the client," he  explained. According to him, from the point of view of the investment  instrument, the bank papers are substantially liquid and profitable,  since with the premature termination of the deposit agreement, the  investor may lose interest, and in the case of bonds, it is out of  the question," K. Zakarian noted.

Regarding the situation with prevailing in the market of bank bonds  of dollar securities, the expert noted that this situation depends on  the level of dollarization of the economy and the ratio of currency  and drama components in the deposit portfolio. "If the situation  changes in favor of the national currency, then, naturally, the  market will react adequately," he stressed.

Earlier, the director of the IC "Armenbrok" Aram Kaifajan said that  the number of issuers from 7 (17 tranches) in 2015 increased to the  current 12 (38 tranches each). Transactions on bonds in 2015 were  committed at $ 3.5 million, and today this figure has increased to $  20 million.

To note, in total on Nasdaq OMX Armenia as of October 12, 2017 23  dollar tranches of bonds of 10 issuers are quoted, of which 19 issues  are issued by 7 banks: Araratbank (5), Ameriabank (4), Armswissbank  (4 ), Anelik Bank (3), and one dollar tranche from Armbusinessbank,  Converse Bank and Unibank.