Financial Institutions Revise 1 Million Contracts Amid Pandemic

Armenian financial institutions have revised nearly 1 million loan agreements over the past few months amid the coronavirus pandemic, with a total outstanding amount of 1.5 trillion drams.

This was stated by the Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank, Nerses Yeritsyan, during parliamentary hearings on the topic of "Penalties, fines, and interest rates on loans and overdue obligations, their forgiveness, and other credit issues in the banking system of Armenia," initiated by the Prosperous Armenia faction.

"Over the past few months, Armenian financial institutions have revised nearly 1 million loan agreements, with a total outstanding balance of about 1.5 trillion drams. The beneficiaries of these revised loans include approximately 550,000 individuals and 17,000 legal entities," Yeritsyan said.

He added that such a large-scale and comprehensive revision of loans reflects the goodwill and partnership of financial institutions towards their clients, as the costs of the revisions were borne by the financial institutions and their owners.

Yeritsyan also emphasized that, viewing the situation as a whole, it becomes clear that loan holidays cannot last indefinitely. He assured that if the Central Bank’s council, composed of impartial professionals, assesses that the balance has been disrupted in any way, it will not hesitate to intervene in order to protect citizens' interests.