CBA, EFSE, European Banking Center to sign MoA

PanARMENIAN.Net - Starting operations in the South Caucasus in 2011, the European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) enabled the lending institutions in Armenia to get an additional source of funding in local currency to provide loans for micro and small enterprises, Head of Corporate Finance Division at the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA), Ms. Astghik Gevorgyan said in her address to the 7th EFSE Annual Meeting ongoing in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Heržegovina.

"In order to promote local currency lending the CBA jointly with the EFSE Development facility organized and successfully conducted a Local Currency Workshop, which was aimed to emphasize the importance of local currency lending as well as to discuss challenges and opportunities the local financial institutions are facing," she said.

However, in a conversation with a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter, Ms. Gevorgyan noted that Armenian small and medium businesses still prefer taking loans in U.S. dollars.

The eurozone crisis, of course, had its impact on the investment atmosphere in Armenia, she said, but the situation tends to improve.

"Armenia was selected as one of the countries for feasibility study, aiming to identify the impact of financial services on micro, small and medium enterprises and their ability to create and sustain employment," Ms. Gevorgyan said in her address to the meeting participants. "The European Banking Center was chosen by the EFSE to undertake analytical and research work by using the ACRA credit registry data."

"Moreover, the Central Bank of Armenia is launching a new research and training center in the resort town of Dilijan. In this framework, a Memorandum of Understanding will be signed between the CBA, European Banking Center and the EFSE to enhance long-term research capacity of the Central Bank. Its envisaged to conduct joint research and workshops to share knowledge and experience on the issue," she concluded.