IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is helping Armenia’s Ameriabank engage for the first time in international interest-rate and currency-swap transactions, which will strengthen the Armenian financial system by reducing currency and interest-rate risks.

IFC and Ameriabank signed an International Swaps and Derivatives Association master agreement, the international standard for risk management. Under the agreement, UFC will provide Ameriabank with U.S.-dollar interest-rate swaps and multiple-currency swaps, enabling the bank to better manage its interest-rate risks on borrowed funds as well as currency risks for its euro deposit base, and provide a wider range of deposit products to customers..

“This transaction will help strengthen our risk-management capacity, which is particularly important in the post-crisis period,” said Andrei Shinkevich, Investment Banking Director of Ameriabank.

Thomas Lubeck, IFC Regional Head of the Caucasus said: “This is our first swap agreement in Armenia are we are happy to be providing this high-level financial technology. It will provide Ameriabank with important risk management tool and improve the bank’s sustainability.”