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. The Armenia Securities Exchange (AMX), together with the Central Depository of Armenia (CDA), summarized the traditional annual competition,  awarding the best participating partners on March 25. As the press  service of the AMX told ArmInfo, the competition was held in 11  categories, of which 5 concerned exchange partners, and 6 - CDA  partners.

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. According to the Central Bank of Armenia, by the end of 2018, the total volume of agricultural loans amounted to 136.2 billion drams ($ 282 million),  having increased by 3.6% over the past year.

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. Over the previous year, the corporate sector of the Armenian bond market grew by 3%, 31 issues totaling $ 151.9 million were placed.  In the public sector 11  placements were made at $ 512 million, the segment volume decreased by 61%, Cbonds reports.

ArmInfo. The total assets of the pension funds of Armenia by November 1, 2018 reached 147.2 billion drams, and their profitability in January-October increased by an  average of 6-7 percentage points.

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. In Armenia, the mobile application PayX has been launched within the framework of the project of creating a single infrastructure for mobile payments. The  project's initiators and co-founders are experienced banker Smbat  Nasibyan and technology expert Beniamin Tadevosyan.

ArmInfo.ARARATBANK launches "Pre-New Year" campaign - cheap dollar mortgage loans, without paying for application analysis, without a one-time service fee, without  paying for real estate valuation, notarial and cadastral valuations.  As ArmInfo was told by the press service of the Bank, the campaign  will be valid until December 25 of this year.

ArmInfo.ARARATBANK was recognized by NASDAQ OMX Armenia winner in three nominations: "The Best Exchange Member", " The Best Exchange Member in the Government Bonds " and "The best participant in the market of corporate bonds".

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.Chairman of the Directorate - General Director of Ameriabank Artak Anesyan was elected Chairman of the Union of Banks of Armenia. As the press  service of the UAB told ArmInfo, the new chairman of the Union of  Banks of Armenia assumed this position on October 1 of this year,  after being elected at a meeting of the UAB Council.

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. In Armenia, the number of plastic cards increased by 16% per annum to July 1, 2018, to 1.851 million units, against the decline of 9% a year earlier.  Adequately, the annual growth in the total volume of plastic  transactions sharply accelerated from 7.2% in the first half of 2017  to 23% in the first half of 2018, exceeding 863.5 billion drams. This  is evidenced by the data of the Central Bank of Armenia.

ArmInfo.The Armenian banking system sent 27.6 billion drams to the state treasury in the first half of 2018, which is 26% higher than the figure of a year ago. Of  this amount, over 87.3% or 24.1 billion drams was paid on direct  taxes (incl. tax on profits and income tax), with an annual growth of  40.6%. The top five banks of taxpayers - Ameriabank, ACBA-Credit  Agricole Bank, INECOBANK, Ardshinbank and VTB Bank (Armenia), sent to  the state budget in the first half of 2018 a total of 15.3 billion  drams (annual growth of 34.2%), of which 14 billion drams - on direct  taxes (annual growth of 33.3%). According to the RA State Revenue  Committee, in the first hundred of the largest taxpayers of Armenia  in the first half of 2018, out of 17 operating banks, 13 as many as a  year ago fell.

ArmInfo.ARARATBANK has revised interest rates on mortgage loans. As the press service of the bank reports, starting from July 31, mortgage loans will be provided at an interest rate lower than the current one by 1 percentage point. In  particular, the interest rates on AMD mortgage loans will start from  10%, with the maturity - up to 20 years.

ArmInfo. The Eurasian Development  Bank (EDB) provided ARARATBANK with a $ 6 million loan for financing  MSB in Armenia. Managing Director of EDB Dmitry Ladikov-Roev and  Chairman of the Board of ARARATBANK Ashot Osipyan signed the  corresponding loan agreement for Assets and Liabilities.