By Samvel Avagyan

Pressed hard by the Euro in international markets, the US Dollar is getting stronger in Armenia.

On Tuesday, the AMD (Armenian dram)/USD average exchange rate was AMD 377.3 per $1 on NASDAQ OMX Armenia against AMD 375.98 per $1 on Monday. The US Dollar sales amounted to $7.1 million, with all the transactions effected at the close.

Thus, the AMD registered 0.36% depreciation. Although the AMD shows lower depreciation rates, with the current tendency maintained, the US Dollar may soon set a new record by exceeding an exchange rate of AMD 380 per $1.

The banks are expecting AMD depreciation. As a result, their AMD surplus is flowing into the currency market thereby causing excitement in the market. Suffice it to say that, last week alone, Armenian commercial banks deposited a total of AMD 104 billion at the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA). On Monday, the CBA received an additional AMD 28 billion from banks.

The above suggests that the Armenian banking system has accumulated a large amount of idle money causing inflation.