YEREVAN. – The flow of Iranian tourists to Armenia, and which is due to the Nowruz [i.e. New Year] holidays, will start this weekend, according to Haykakan Zhamanak (Armenian Time) newspaper.

“Along with the flow of Iranian tourists, a quite sharp appreciation of the dram [i.e. the Armenian national currency] is recorded in Armenia these days, every year.

“Tourists bring along into Armenia a significant amount of foreign currency, for the magnitude of our market, and the market is overfilled with foreign currency and leads to the appreciation of the dram.

“The dram usually gains value by 2 to 2.5 percent in mid-March, for only a few days; this has a positive importance for our economy,” wrote Haykakan Zhamanak.