ArmInfo. In the current circumstances due to the coronavirus, banks are ready to act as intermediaries between the government and the population, providing their support to jointly overcome the difficulties that have arisen. Thus, banks will help not only to cope with a difficult situation, but will also further contribute to the development of such sectors of the economy as SMEs and agriculture. This was stated by Executive Director of the Union of Banks of Armenia (UBA) Seyran Sargsyan referring to the work carried out by the system and state programs to neutralize the economic consequences of the coronavirus (COVID-19).
Referring to the current results of the 1st and 2nd programs of the Armenian government to neutralize the economic consequences of the coronavirus, he noted that the total number of loans approved by the program for small and medium enterprises at the moment is 214, and the volume - 9.715 billion drams. At the same time, out of the indicated credit resources, 828.5 mln drams will be directed to pay salaries to 2055 employees.
In agriculture, 770 loan applications were approved, of which 479 were microloans. The volume of the approved loan amount is AMD 1.844 billion, of which loans to the agricultural sector for AMD 346.5 million have already been provided. According to the monitoring results of the Central Bank, of the approved 479 agricultural loans, most have already entered the economy and are serving their purpose. According to the Financial Rating of the Banks of Armenia as of January 1, 2020, prepared by ArmInfo IC, the total loan portfolio of the banking system exceeded 3.7 trillion drams ($ 7.8 million). In the structure of assets that amounted to 5.8 trillion drams ($ 12.1 million) at this date, the share of credit investments decreased in 2019 from 65.4% to 64.5%, which was due to a higher annual growth of assets (by 17.5%), than loans (by 15.4%). In the loan portfolio, SMEs account for about 23%, with a slowdown in annual growth from 16% to 5%, and the agricultural sector - 5%, with the acceleration of annual growth in volume from 6% to 11%. And they dominate in the volume of credit investments: consumer loans - 27.6%, trade - 17.4%, industrial sector - 13.8%, mortgage - 9.8%, catering / services - 7.6%.
Recall that in Armenia in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus infection, a state of emergency was introduced on March 16, with an extension to May 14. In this regard, a temporary ban has been established for certain types of activities, including restaurants, cafes, bars, casinos, hotels, canteens, retail facilities and industries not related to food and medical products. Later, during the second term of the state of emergency, the ban was lifted on certain activities. Armenian banks promptly reacted to the current situation, starting to offer "credit holidays" from March 13 - deferred payment for 2 months, and at the same time urging customers to use remote banking services.
