ArmInfo. The appreciation of the Armenian dram against the US dollar is primarily driven by an increase in financial inflows to Armenia, as stated by Martin Galstyan, the Chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia, on May 18 during a session of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Financial, Credit, and Budgetary Affairs.
He reported that the Central Bank intervenes in the foreign exchange market whenever an imbalance is observed. "The Regulator's intervention in the FX market is ongoing [the CBA conducted $603.1 million in USD buy-side interventions during the first quarter of this year – Ed. ]. However, we can see that the inflows have grown to such an extent that they are exerting a distinct impact on the exchange rate," Galstyan said.
The Central Bank head also noted that this trend is not limited to the Armenian dram. In this regard, he pointed to the Russian ruble and the euro, which have also strengthened recently. "That is to say, we are observing a certain nominal appreciation against the dollar; however, the dram's behavior against the ruble remains more stable, and in terms of the real effective exchange rate, the appreciation is not as noticeable," Galstyan noted.
It is worth noting that in Armenia's retail foreign exchange market, the dram has appreciated by more than 5% year-on-year against the US dollar, averaging AMD 367.5 /$1 as of May 18, 2026. Over a period of just under four and a half years, the dram has strengthened by 24% against the US dollar. A major appreciation of 17% occurred in 2022, followed by a mild depreciation in 2023. Subsequently, the dram strengthened notably throughout 2024–2025, maintaining this upward trend to the present day.
