ArmInfo.Between August 10 and 14, Armenia's interbank foreign exchange market experienced significant activity in US dollar transactions, which contrasted sharply with low activity in Russian ruble transactions and a complete halt in euro trading.
Specifically, the transaction volume for the US dollar shifted from a 62.5% decline to a substantial 12-fold expansion, whereas the ruble transaction trend reversed from a 98% increase to a 37% contraction. Consequently, weekly US dollar trading volume regained dominance over the ruble, exceeding it by a factor of 1.3, whereas the ruble had dominated the previous week with a 15-fold margin over the dollar.
Concurrently, in the retail domestic banking foreign exchange market during the reporting week (August 10 14, 2026, compared to August 3 7, 2026), dollar purchases registered marginal growth alongside a pronounced deceleration in sales contraction. For euro transactions, the nascent reduction in purchases was accompanied by an accelerated decline in sales. Meanwhile, ruble transactions recorded an expansion in sales as purchase volumes shifted into a contraction phase.
As a result, from August 10 to 14, the dram weakened against the dollar, from 365.3 to 365.5 AMD/USD, simultaneously continuing to weaken against the euro, from 421 to 421.5 AMD/EUR and continuing to strengthen against the ruble, from 4.28 to 4.14 AMD/RUB. A year earlier, on August 14, 2025, the dram exchange rate against the dollar was 383.5 AMD/USD, against the euro 446.5 AMD/EUR, and against the ruble 4.76 AMD/RUB. Compared to current rates, this indicates an annual revaluation of the dram against the dollar, euro, and ruble of 5%, 6%, and 13%, respectively.
According to the Central Bank of the Republic of Armenia, from August 10 to 14 of this year, four dollar transactions and three ruble transactions were carried out on the interbank currency market. Moreover, on Wednesday and Friday (August 12 and 14), dollar and ruble transactions were simultaneously conducted. As a result, the weekly volume of dollar transactions amounted to $17.5 million at an average rate of 366.73 AMD/USD (compared to 367.30 AMD/USD the week before), while the weekly volume of ruble transactions amounted to 1.150 billion rubles, with an average exchange rate of 4.39 AMD/RUB (compared to 4.53 AMD/RUB the previous week). The maximum volume of dollar transactions occurred on Friday (August 14) $8 million, while the equally maximum volume of ruble transactions occurred on Monday and Friday (August 10 and 14) 450 million rubles each.
On the intra-bank currency market from August 10 to 14 of this year, compared to the previous week (August 3-7, 2026), the dollar buying trend went from a 21.8% decline to a meager 0.01% growth, with a slowdown in the decline in sales from 11.2% to 0.7%. For euro transactions, a reversal in the buying trend from 53% growth to a 27.3% decline was accompanied by an acceleration in the decline in sales from 4% to 8.4%. For ruble transactions, a shift in the sales trend from a 14.2% decline to a 14% growth was noted, with a reversal in the buying trend in the opposite direction - from 32% growth to a 14% decline. As a result, during the reporting week, $167.3 million was purchased at an average rate of 364.51 AMD/USD, 44.3 million euros at an average rate of 419.03 AMD/EUR, and 9.1 billion rubles at an average rate of 4.32 AMD/RUB, Additionally, $174.4 million was sold at an average rate of 367.16 AMD/USD, 51.7 million euros at an average rate of 425.59 AMD/EUR, and 3.7 billion rubles at an average rate of 4.45 AMD/RUB. Thes highest volume of ruble purchases occurred on Monday (over 2.1 billion rubles on August 10), followed by the highest dollar and euro purchases and sales on Tuesday (37.3-41.2 million dollars and 11.9 million euros on August 11). The highest volume of euro purchases took place on Wednesday (13.8 million euros on August 12), while the highest ruble sales occurred on Friday (896.9 million rubles on August 14).
According to the Central Bank of Armenia, in H1 2026, the Central Bank intervened in the foreign exchange market for $1.161 billion, strengthening the exchange rate from 381.49 AMD/USD in December to 368.20 AMD/USD in June. These were only purchases. In the intrabank foreign exchange market in the first half of 2026, USD 4.5 billion, EUR 1.1 billion, and RUB 224.4 billion were purchased, while USD 5.05 billion, EUR 1.4 billion, and RUB 83.7 billion rubles were sold. This resulted in a buying rate on the intra-bank foreign exchange market in June of 367.17 AMD/USD, 421.72 AMD/EUR, and 4.90 AMD/RUB, and a selling rate of 369.26 AMD/USD, 427.83 AMD/EUR, and 5.07 AMD/RUB, compared to December 2025 rates of 380.38AMD/USD, 442.74 AMD/EUR, and 4.83 AMD/RUB for buying, and 382.62 AMD/USD, 449.26 AMD/EUR, and 4.91 AMD/RUB for selling.
In the first half of 2026, USD transactions totaled $334.3 million, EUR transactions totaled 5.3 million, and RUB transactions totaled 21.4-22.2 billion. Moreover, no EUR transactions were carried out between March and June. During this period, the dram weakened against the ruble to 5.01 AMD/RUB and strengthened against the dollar to 368.34 AMD/USD, up from 4.88 AMD/RUB and 381.33 AMD/USD in December 2025.
Recall, ruble transactions on the Armenian interbank currency market began on March 14, 2022. On the currency exchange platform, in H1 2026, dollar transactions worth $26.4 million were carried out, accompanied by a strengthening of the dram to June 368.38 AMD/USD from October 387.75 AMD/USD, when dollar transactions last appeared on the exchange a year earlier.
