ArmInfo.The Union of Banks of Armenia (UBA) summed up the results of 2018. At a press conference held on March 19, SBA Chairman Artak Hanesyan and Executive Director Seyran Sargsyan presented the results of the banking system to journalists.S. Sargsyan noted that by 2019, the total capital of the banking system of Armenia reached 771 billion drams, exceeding a year ago by 11.3%. Assets increased by 14% to 4.96 trillion drams. He noted that the dynamic growth of assets in commercial banks of Armenia has been observed since 2006.
"This indicates that the confidence of customers and international financial structures is growing from year to year, which will allow Armenian banks to attract more funds for further lending," he stressed. The loan portfolio increased by 13.7% over the reporting year, reaching 3.3 trillion drams. S. Sargsyan noted that the share of corporate loans in the total loan portfolio of the banking system dropped to 63.6%, reaching 2.1 trillion drams, while the share of retail lending increased to 33.8%, reaching 1.1 trillion drams.In particular, the executive director of the SBA noted that during the year the mortgage portfolio increased by 22%, with a share in the total loan portfolio of 8%, agricultural loans increased annually by 5.7% (with a share of 5%), lending to the industrial sector - by 9.4%, transport and communications - by 46.2%, trade - by 13%, services - by 31.2%.Consumer loans showed an annual growth of 36%.<In each industry, we see growth. A slight decline was recorded only for loans in the construction industry - by 1.8%. But, in my opinion, this is due in particular to the fact that the market itself in 2018 was somewhat passive, "he explained. Speaking about the ratio of loans to GDP of the country, S. Sargsyan said that the share from 35.4% in 2017 increased to 54.1% in 2018.At the same time, S. Sargsyan noted that in 2018, Armenian banks managed to increase profits by 27.4% to 62 billion drams. "But this indicator is more correctly viewed from a qualitative point of view," the expert emphasized.
In this regard, he drew attention to the level of capital return, which in the banking system of Armenia averages 8.36%, which is much lower than the level in developed countries. "In terms of attractiveness, Armenian banks are at a low level. And we have to realize a large amount of work in this direction, "he said.In conclusion, the Executive Director of the UAB noted that over the past 7 years, Armenia's GDP has increased by 40.7%, while the main banking indicators have almost doubled. <Namely, credit investments increased 2 times, assets, time deposits - 2.1 times, capital- by 88%. This indicates that the banking system of Armenia is developing dynamically, and the intermediary role of banks is expanding from year to year, "he concluded.