Martin Galstyan: Armenian dram has weakened against US dollar in terms of real effective rate

ArmInfo. During the year, there  has been a significant appreciation of the ruble, indicating changes  in the exchange rate of the Armenian dram / Russian ruble, as noted  by the Chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia, Martin Galstyan,  during a press conference on June 10.  He also noted that inflation  in Russia remains higher than in Armenia. "Due to these two factors,  we see that the Armenian dram has weakened against the Russian ruble,  and Russia is our main trading partner," he noted.

According to the head of the Central Bank, a similar situation is  observed in the context of the euro, which is a result of  geopolitical events. Galstyan pointed out that a certain amount of  capital, presumably from the United States, has been sent to the  Eurozone, the second most developed financial market.

"And in these conditions, the seemingly stable level of the nominal  Armenian dram against the US dollar does not tell the whole story.  From the perspective of the real effective exchange rate, the  Armenian dram has devalued, providing opportunities for our  exporters," he said.

Regarding the balancing of supply and demand, after the fact, the  market becomes one-sided, as Galstyan noted. "And in these  conditions, we see that the demand for currency is lower than the  supply, that is, from an exchange rate standpoint, there is some  downward pressure on prices," the Chairman of the Central Bank  emphasized.