Yerevan September 17
Karina Melikyan. Dilijan Training and Research Centre of the Central Bank of Armenia hosted a high level international conference, dedicated to Armenian national currency – dram's 25th anniversary, the press service of Armenia's Central Bank told ArmInfo.
Welcoming the guests, the Governor of the Central Bank of Armenia Arthur Javadyan noted, that this conference also symbolizes the 25th anniversary of independent monetary policy-making. During these 25 years, he said, the Armenian dram has resisted numerous shocks, yet it has succeeded to persist as a viable currency. He stressed, that currently in Armenia we do have an effective monetary policy and sound financial stability framework. Arthur Javadyan wished the participants fruitful and interesting discussions.
At the conference presentations were made on monetary and financial stability policies in Armenia.
A special guest and keynote speaker, Mr. Lawrence Christiano, from Northwestern University in his speech entitled "Dollarization: Tradeoff between Insurance for Households and Increased Probability of Crisis", lectured on a contemporary and very important issue for emerging markets – the financial dollarization.
Conference participants discussed various ideas about mechanisms of and exchange of experiences in provision of price and financial stability in different countries.
To note, on November 22, 1993, the national currency – dram was put into circulation in independent Armenia. Over the past 25 years, both the banking system and the Armenian dram have been able to pass the path full of trials and create a worthy history. It is easy to imagine what challenges the independent Armenia faced then. At that time, the monetary policy and the functions of financial supervision were being formed at the Central Bank, and there were almost no government reserves. In these conditions, the most difficult issue was the formation of confidence in the financial system and the national currency. And yet, thanks to teamwork, it was possible to attain confidence in the Armenian dram and the financial system. The Armenian dram is not only a means of payment, but, first of all, a symbol of the independence of the state. The financial system of Armenia has proved that it is able to withstand serious challenges. Proof of this is the growth of deposits and loans in the most difficult period of the 2008 financial and economic crisis. So, if in 2008 the credit portfolio of banks was 615 billion drams, and assets – 1 trillion drams, then by July 1, 2018 these figures have already reached respectively 3.04 trillion drams ($ 6.3 billion) and 4.5 trillion drams ($ 9.3 billion). Annually on November 22, the day of the bank employee is also marked.