Devaluation of dram is normal provided inflation rate is controlled: Tigran Jrbashyan says
20.07.2012,
18:32
The devaluation of the national currency is normal provided that the inflation rate is controlled, Tigran Jrbashyan, Ameriabank marketing director, told a news conference today.
YEREVAN, July 20. /ARKA/. The devaluation of the national currency is normal provided that the inflation rate is controlled, Tigran Jrbashyan, Ameriabank marketing director, told a news conference today.
"A simple calculation of the current balance of payments deficit suggests that we should have devaluating national currency. I think that the devaluation is a normal phenomena that has a healing effect on the economy", he said, adding that it improves the balance of payments and stimulates exports.
"The point is inflation. But a controlled inflation did not kill anyone," Jrbashyan joked, noting that the current situation shows that inflation is controllable and can not cross the dangerous edge.
"The most important economic sector for us are the small and medium businesses, as well as processing industries and trade," he said.
In turn, the financial director of Ameriabank, Gevorg Tarumyan, said the devaluation of the dram has not prompted changes in the behavior of bank’s customers. "The proportions of dram and foreign currency assets have not changed and there is no rush to convert dram deposits to foreign currency," he said.
According to the National Statistical Service of Armenia, inflation in June 2012 rose by 0.7% from a year before; the consumer price index in January-June 2012, if compared to the same period in 2011, was 2.2%. Food prices (including alcoholic beverages and tobacco) rose by 1.8%, prices of non-food products by 3.9% and services by 3.2%.
Ameriabank CJSC is a universal bank that provides investment, corporate and retail banking services. ($ 1 - 412.13 drams). -0-
