Saturday, February 23 2019 15:19

ArmInfo. On February 23, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan spoke about loans, their expediency, reliability and guarantee of return during a meeting at  the business forum held in Vanadzor.

He said that now there are many obstacles in the country, and if they  are not eliminated, people will have a a desire to leave. "Today,  people say that you have to believe in yourself. But, forgive me, you  are representatives of the old economic system, in which you needed  patrons. When you took out a loan, did you at least think about  whether you can repay it or not," the prime minister wondered.

Pashinyan also stressed that recently, many began to take agro-loans,  bought cars on installments, and when these cars broke out, they were  saying that the government does not assist them in reimbursement of  losses, and held rallies. "There is another category of people who  spend loans on their pleasures, and then complain about why their  loan rates are not subsidized. And what are they complaining about?  Everyone should be aware of their responsibility. In addition, we  should not forget that we are pursuing a policy aimed to reduce the  interest rate," the Prime Minister noted.

According to him, the entrepreneur himself is first of all  responsible for success. Also, the prime minister said that one of  the main functions of the government is to not hinder the development  of business. He noted that the government should not interfere in the  relationship of the bank and the entrepreneur. "We need to raise the  financial awareness of citizens. Gone are the days when a loan could  be issued or the interest reduced on the Prime Minister's call.  Conditions for all should be equal," concluded Pashinyan.  According  to the data of the Central Bank of the Republic of Armenia, according  to the results of 2018, the total volume of bank loans amounted to  3.1 trillion drams, and excluding prolonged and overdue loans - 2.8  trillion drams ($ 5.8 billion), an increase of 17.2% in y-o-y terms.  Of which dram loans amounted to 1.3 trillion drams ($ 2.6 billion)  with a y-o-y growth of 40.3%. As a result, in the structure of the  loan portfolio, the share of the dram component increased in 2018  from 37.8% to 45.2%, which occurred against the background of lower  interest rates, moreover, for dram loans more noticeably than for  dollar loans. Thus, interest rates on loans decreased in 2018 on  average from 12.1% to 10.5%, in particular for dram loans - from  14.5% to 12.5%. And only on loans with a maturity of more than 1  year, the rates decreased in 2018 on average from 12.6% to 10.9%,  including dram rates - from 15.4% to 12.6%.