Thursday, June 4 2020 15:33

ArmInfo.Commercial banks of Armenia provided loan payment holidays for almost 550 thousand citizens of the country. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced  this on June 4 at a government meeting.  According to him, the matter  concerns individuals with a total volume of loans worth 682 billion  drams, of which 45 billion drams are current payouts. In addition,  17,400 business entities were granted holidays with a total volume of  loans of 647 billion drams, of which 57 billion drams - current  payments.

It should be noted that one the eve of introducing the State of  Emergency in March 16, Armenian banks from March 13 announced a  2-3-month loan payment holiday for individuals and legal entities,  implying a deferment of payments on interest payments and the  principal amount of the loan. Moreover, deferred payments will be  transferred to the next months. According to experts, this increases  the monthly repayment burden, which makes it difficult for a borrower  to fulfill loan obligations due to the coronavirus pandemic and  restrictive measures taken in connection with it. 

According to the Financial Rating of the Banks of Armenia prepared by  ArmInfo IC as of March 31, 2020, the total volume of credit  investments in the banking market exceeded AMD 3.9 trillion (over $  7.7 billion), accelerating y-o-y growth to 18.6% from 14.1% a year  earlier. In the loan portfolio, 59.2% are loans to legal entities,  and 38.7% are loans to individuals. In retail lending, high annual  growth rates almost remained - 31.7% (against 30.3% a year earlier),  while y-o-y growth in corporate lending accelerated more noticeably  from 7.3% to 12.3%.  The share of NPL in the loan portfolio of the  banking system as of March 31, 2020 amounted to 8% (against 8.5% a  year earlier), and in assets - 5.2% (against 6.2% a year earlier).