ArmInfo.The devaluation of the dram is mainly associated with trend expectations, which are usually short-term in nature. Deputy Chairman of the RA Central Bank Nerses Yeritsyan stated this at the meeting of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly of Armenia on Financial-Credit and Budgetary Affairs.
"In our opinion, there is no uncontrollable situation. Because the state of the country's current account has improved, and this is a fundamental factor for such an assessment,> he stressed. Continuing the thought, Yeritsyan added that the financial system of Armenia is quite stable, and the currency risks are quite balanced. "That is, the position of the financial system is such that its liabilities are fully covered by liquid foreign exchange assets," the Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia said.
In this regard, he noted that throughout the year the Central Bank provided the economy with both foreign exchange and AMD liquidity in order to create an opportunity to service the economy and the financial system.
Answering the parliamentarians' question regarding currency interventions, Yeritsyan noted that since the beginning of the year, the Central Bank has been mainly buying the market. <After the start of the coronavirus pandemic, during the first week, we made 1-2 foreign exchange interventions. In total, the volume of net sales in the first half of last year amounted to about US $ 40 million. But these steps were episodic, "he explained.
At the beginning of the year, the situation was the opposite. "Due to the strong revaluation pressure, we bought, and in this regard, the year was unprecedented. Because usually in January there is a high demand for currency, but because of the coronavirus, the opposite happened>, - said the deputy head of the Central Bank. During this period, according to him, there was also a certain outflow of deposits, which, however, returned to the system within a month. "This speaks of the restoration of citizens' confidence from a macroeconomic point of view," he stressed.
With regard to confidence in the financial system, Yeritsyan noted that once again, going through the crisis, customers remain loyal, especially those who have small deposits and incomes in the national currency. "I think that in the future we should focus on deepening and expanding financial services for this type of clients, which will strengthen stability in our country and protect against external shocks," he stressed. To recall, a noticeable devaluation of the dram began to be observed in the retail foreign exchange market of Armenia from the second decade of October 2020, with the approach of November 18 close to the psychological mark of 500 AMD / $ 1. By November 23, the exchange rate reached 507 AMD / $ 1 on average, continuing to weaken further more pronounced. Already on December 15, the dram devalued against the dollar and euro to 528 AMD / $ 1 and 640 AMD / 1 EUR. To note for comparison that at the end of 2019, the AMD exchange rate against the US dollar was 479.3 AMD / $ 1 on average, and 531 AMD / 1 EUR against the euro.
To note in 2020, the RA Central Bank made interventions in the foreign exchange market for a total of $ 328.750 million, of which $ 90.9 million (January-February and April) for buying foreign currency and $ 237.850 million for its sale (March-April, November- December).
