YEREVAN. – Easing of external shocks is likely to drag lending rate closer to policy rate, Mr. Hossein Samiei, the new IMF Mission Chief to Armenia, told the media Wednesday in Yerevan.

According to the statistics of the Central Bank for January 2016, weighted average interest rate for loans in Armenian drams with 1-5 years’ maturity was 15.8% for business, almost twice the refinancing rate, which on March 29 was lowered by 0.25 percentage points to 8.25%. Weighted average rate for loans (with the same conditions) to individuals was 20.2%.

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ACBA- CREDIT AGRICOLE BANK lowered rates of the loans that have been issued or will be issued in the future. Thank you, Armenian serviceman...
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However, banks have to charge high risk premiums. As soon as risks (particularly from the external environment) are smoothed, the spread between the policy rate and average lending rates will most likely be reduced, IMF representative said.