Expert: Armenia has investment capital of several billion dollars; the problem is lack of good investment projects

YEREVAN, March 5. /ARKA/. Armenia has capital of several billion US dollars, which can be used to finance investment projects, Director General of the Association of Financial Market Participants Karen Zakharyan told ARKA news agency.

"There is a large capital in Armenia, which can be invested if there are appropriate investment projects. The problem lies in the degree of readiness of the business, which should be transparent, accountable and inspire confidence among investors. There is no shortage of capital in Armenia," he told reporters on the sidelines of the first investment and financial forum "Armenia's Capital Markets; Future Outlook," which kicked off in Yerevan on Tuesday.

As for the amount of capital that can be used to finance various projects, Zakharyan noted that the difference between the side of bank deposits and all types of loans provided by banks is $2.6 billion in favor of deposits: that is, banks have collected deposits worth $14 billion, while they have issued loans worth $11.4 billion.

"The equity capital of banks is $3.6 billion, which also needs to be invested. The banks have raised soft loans from various international organizations, which are placed. Pension funds manage over $2 billion in assets which are also invested. There are also credit, insurance, investment companies ... There are no problems with money in Armenia: if a good and reliable investment project is developed, it will have no problems with financing," he said.

According to Zakharyan, the most promising sectors for investments are construction, services, including financial services.

"Naturally, the financial sector and IT industry have a much higher growth potential, which can be exponential, unlike many other sectors of the economy, where growth is limited by objective factors, including - population size, border problems, Armenia's lack of access to the sea," Zakharyan added. -0-