ArmInfo.AraratBank and BlueOrchard Covid-19 Emerging and Frontier Markets MSME Support Fund concluded a bilateral loan agreement for a total amount of USD 5 million to support MSMEs affected by COVID-19 in Armenia.    

ArmInfo.

ArmInfo.As of March 16, the Central Bank of Armenia did not make any decisions on suspension of the work of branches of commercial banks of Armenia. This was  reported by the press service of the CBA.

ArmInfo. Due to the current situation and in order to avoid crowds in the branches, by decision of the Board of ARARATBANK, clients (individuals and legal entities,  private entrepreneurs) will be provided with a "credit vacation" for  a period of 2 months, starting from March 16, if desired.

ArmInfo.Mher Ananyan, who has many years of experience in the financial and banking sector, has been appointed Chairman of the Board - Executive Director of  ARARATBANK.

ArmInfo.The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) has once again teamed up with long-time partner ARARATBANK to drive local business growth in Armenia, as the press service of the bank informs by providing a multi-currency  senior loan equivalent to USD 10 million, the fund is supporting the  bank in offering tailored financial products that meet the needs of  micro and small enterprises, thereby strengthening the development of  this important sector while securing and creating jobs in the  country.

ArmInfo. ARARATBANK and the European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) have signed a synthetic loan agreement for a dram amount equivalent to $ 15 million, which  will be used to develop micro and small businesses in Armenia. On  April 3, the Chairman of the Board of ARARATBANK Ashot Osipyan  informed this at a press conference.

ArmInfo.  In the banking system of Armenia, the concentration of assets among the top five increased over 2013-2018 from 47.7% to 55.3%, although it decreased compared to  2017 by 0.1%.  Among the main assets are Ameriabank, Ardshinbank,  Armbusinessbank, ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank and INECOBANK.

ArmInfo. In 2018, the banking system of Armenia increased tax payments to the state  treasury by 21.2% to 48.6 billion drams ($ 100.5 million). Of this  amount, 91% or 44.2 billion drams were paid in direct taxes, with a  y-o-y growth of 23.8%.

ArmInfo. Despite the high  ratioof capital adequacy, at least among the largest players in the  Armenian banking market, the opportunities for its optimal use are  severely limited, Financial Director of one of the largest banks in  Armenia, former Minister of Finance David Sargsyan stated at a  banking conference organized by Fitch Ratings international agency  last week in Yerevan.

ArmInfo. On October 22, IDBank will issue the 6th tranche of dollar-denominated coupon bonds in the amount of $ 5 million, with a coupon yield of 5.25%. As the Bank's press service told ArmInfo, the maturity of these bonds was set at  2.3 years.  According to the source, payments on coupons for this  tranche will be made quarterly, unlike previous issues, when payments  were made every six months. As part of this tranche, it is planned to  issue 50,000 bonds, each with a nominal value of $ 100.

ArmInfo.The demand for mortgages in Armenia is growing significantly. This was stated in the conversation with ArmInfo by the responsible sales department of the  residential quarter "Eras" Karen Ghazaryan on the fields of the  Mortgage Evening, which was held for the first time in Armenia on the  initiative of ARARATBANK.

ArmInfo.The probability of further lowering interest rates on mortgages is not ruled out. This forecast was provided by the Chairman of the Board - Executive  Director of ARARATBANK Ashot Osipyan in the fields of the Mortgage  Evening, which was held for the first time in Armenia on the  initiative of the Bank.

ArmInfo. Yesterday in  ARARATBANK for the first time a mortgage evening was held, during  which participants of the mortgage market of Armenia, from potential  borrowers and ending with the companies-developers met at one site.

ArmInfo. The customer base of the Armenian banking system totaled 2 446 724  individuals and 80 182 legal entities as of April 1, 2018. According  to the Central Bank, provided by the National Statistical Service of  Armenia, a total of 2,526,906 customers had in the Armenian banks  4,703,539 accounts, of which 4,537,222 - physical accounts and 166  317 - accounts of legal entities.

ArmInfo. The National Assembly of Armenia made amendments to the laws "On Secured Mortgage Bonds" and "On Bankruptcy of Banks, Credit Organizations, Investment Companies and Insurance Companies" on March 21 at the first reading.  The day before, the deputy chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia Nerses Yeritsyan informed that the package submitted by the government of the country is aimed at regulating the mortgage market of the country.

ArmInfo. In the banking system of Armenia, the concentration of assets among the top five leaders in this indicator increased in 2012-2017 from 46.5% to 55.2%. This amount of assets is distributed between Ameriabank, Armbusinessbank, Ardshinbank, ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank and INECOBANK.  According to the Financial Rating of the Armenian Banks as of January 1, 2018, prepared by the Information Company ArmInfo, TOP-5 for credit investments includes the same banks with a total share in the total market value of 59.1% of the total loan portfolio. In 2012, the share of the leading five is 47.1%.

ArmInfo. The share of foreign capital in the total authorized capital of Armenian banks decreased from 2014 to 2017 from 74.6% to 61.8%. During this period, four participants emerged from the banking market, of which three were "daughters" of foreign banks. This is the German ProCredit Bank, Kazakhstan's BTA and Russian Gazprombank.

ArmInfo. Contrary to the slowdown in the growth of lending, the banks of Armenia are making quite a high profit. According to the Express-Ranking of Armenian Banks, prepared by the Rating service of the IArmInfo Information Company , the growth rate of crediting in 2016-2017 from 16.5% slowed to 4.3%, however, the aggregate net profit of the banking system from negative dynamics in 26.4% in 2016 went to the positive 15.6%. It is noteworthy that the investments of banks in securities increased in 2017 more significantly - by 22.3%, rather than lending volumes, and at the same time, the balances on nostro accounts (including in the Central Bank) increased significantly.

ArmInfo. Two tranches of non-documentary mortgage coupon bonds of the Universal Credit Company First Mortgage Company in the amount of $ 500 thousand and 100 million drams (FMGCB1 and FMGCB2) are admitted to trading on the free market of Cbond exchange NasDaq OMX Armenia. As the press service of the exchange told ArmInfo, thus the bonds of these issues are allowed to enter into targeted and repurchase transactions. The underwriter and the market maker of these issues is ARARATBANK.