Armenia’s FX market, October 26–30: dollar purchases up 12.2%, sales down 11.4%
Armenian banks and credit organizations bought about $195.3 million and sold about $177.3 million from October 26 to 30. After net sales of $26 million a week earlier, dollar operations showed net purchases of about $17.9 million.
According to the Central Bank of Armenia, the weighted average dollar buying rate for the week was 359.45 drams and the selling rate 361.70 drams. The largest purchases came on October 27 at $61.9 million ($41.9 million was sold the same day). On the interbank market,* $7.5 million was bought (October 27–29) at an average rate of 360.27 drams and $8.5 million sold (October 26–30) at 360.34 drams.
Euro purchases totaled about €45.6 million and sales €70.7 million, at average rates of 400.14 and 406.02 drams respectively. There were no interbank euro operations.
About 9.66 billion rubles were bought during the week at an average rate of 4.37 drams, and 4.16 billion rubles sold at 4.51 drams. On the interbank market, 1.9 billion rubles were bought and sold at 4.46 drams.
The dram equivalent of other currencies bought was 1.269 billion drams (about $3.5 million), and of those sold 3.8825 billion drams (about $10.8 million).
Total intrabank purchases for the week amounted to 131.937 billion drams and sales to 115.457 billion drams. Interbank purchases totaled 11.171 billion drams and sales 11.536 billion drams.
The dram equivalent of foreign currency bought by credit organizations was 5.687 billion drams, and of currency sold 5.087 billion drams.
Comparison with the previous week (October 19–23)
Dollar purchases rose 12.2%, from $174.1 million to $195.3 million, while sales fell 11.4%, from $200.1 million to $177.3 million. The average buying rate fell from 360.13 to 359.45 drams, and the selling rate from 362.54 to 361.70 drams.
Euro purchases dropped 17.5%, from €55.3 million to €45.6 million, while sales rose 16.8%, from €60.5 million to €70.7 million. The euro buying rate fell from 402.61 to 400.14 drams, and the selling rate from 408.87 to 406.02 drams.
Ruble purchases fell 2.4%, from 9.90 billion to 9.66 billion, while sales jumped 31.2%, from 3.17 billion to 4.16 billion rubles. The ruble buying rate rose from 4.29 to 4.37 drams, and the selling rate from 4.42 to 4.51 drams.
Total intrabank purchases grew 2.7% and sales fell 8%. Credit organizations’ operations declined 8.3% in purchases and 11.5% in sales. The sharp drop in sales of other currencies (from 14.239 billion to 3.883 billion drams) reflects a high base: on October 20 alone, other currencies worth 12.583 billion drams were sold.
| Indicator | Oct 19–23 | Oct 26–30 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| USD bought, million | 174.1 | 195.3 | +12.2% |
| USD sold, million | 200.1 | 177.3 | −11.4% |
| USD buying rate, drams | 360.13 | 359.45 | −0.68 |
| USD selling rate, drams | 362.54 | 361.70 | −0.84 |
| EUR bought, million | 55.3 | 45.6 | −17.5% |
| EUR sold, million | 60.5 | 70.7 | +16.8% |
| EUR buying rate, drams | 402.61 | 400.14 | −2.47 |
| EUR selling rate, drams | 408.87 | 406.02 | −2.85 |
| RUB bought, billion | 9.90 | 9.66 | −2.4% |
| RUB sold, billion | 3.17 | 4.16 | +31.2% |
| RUB buying rate, drams | 4.29 | 4.37 | +0.08 |
| RUB selling rate, drams | 4.42 | 4.51 | +0.09 |
| Intrabank purchases, bn drams | 128.4 | 131.9 | +2.7% |
| Intrabank sales, bn drams | 125.5 | 115.5 | −8.0% |
| Credit organizations, purchases, bn drams | 6.20 | 5.69 | −8.3% |
| Credit organizations, sales, bn drams | 5.75 | 5.09 | −11.5% |
Intrabank and interbank operations, October 26–30
US dollar, million
| Date | Intrabank purchases | Intrabank sales | Interbank purchases | Interbank sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 26 | 28.21 | 34.36 | — | 1.0 |
| Oct 27 | 61.93 | 41.86 | 3.5 | 3.5 |
| Oct 28 | 31.70 | 35.96 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Oct 29 | 41.46 | 30.13 | 2.5 | 2.0 |
| Oct 30 | 31.96 | 35.01 | — | 0.5 |
Euro, million
| Date | Intrabank purchases | Intrabank sales | Interbank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 26 | 9.36 | 12.46 | — |
| Oct 27 | 9.65 | 16.49 | — |
| Oct 28 | 11.79 | 21.87 | — |
| Oct 29 | 5.90 | 10.76 | — |
| Oct 30 | 8.94 | 9.09 | — |
Russian ruble, billion
| Date | Intrabank purchases | Intrabank sales | Interbank (purchases = sales) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 26 | 2.18 | 0.78 | 0.600 |
| Oct 27 | 2.39 | 0.53 | 0.600 |
| Oct 28 | 1.61 | 0.71 | — |
| Oct 29 | 1.85 | 0.83 | 0.125 |
| Oct 30 | 1.63 | 1.31 | 0.575 |
Weighted average rates of banks and credit organizations, drams
| Date | US dollar | Euro | Russian ruble | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buy | Sell | Buy | Sell | Buy | Sell | |
| Oct 26 | 359.64 | 362.15 | 401.72 | 407.83 | 4.358 | 4.498 |
| Oct 27 | 359.74 | 361.96 | 401.90 | 406.84 | 4.388 | 4.507 |
| Oct 28 | 359.38 | 361.68 | 399.75 | 405.17 | 4.362 | 4.540 |
| Oct 29 | 359.22 | 361.43 | 398.26 | 404.43 | 4.371 | 4.508 |
| Oct 30 | 359.10 | 361.21 | 398.34 | 405.98 | 4.372 | 4.494 |
| Week | 359.45 | 361.70 | 400.14 | 406.02 | 4.371 | 4.507 |
Banks and credit organizations: there were no interbank euro operations on October 26–30, and no interbank ruble operations on October 28.
Exchange offices
From October 12 to 18, exchange offices bought $16.3 million and sold $19.5 million (October 5–11: $15.3 million and $18 million). The weighted average dollar buying rate ranged from 357.02 to 359.41 drams, and the selling rate from 360.86 to 361.45 drams. Euro operations totaled €4.52 million in purchases and €4.92 million in sales. During the week, exchange offices bought 1.1085 billion Russian rubles and sold 594.9 million. The dram equivalent of operations in other currencies was 253.2 million drams in purchases and 271.3 million drams in sales.
Weighted average rates of exchange offices, drams
| Date | US dollar | Euro | Russian ruble | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buy | Sell | Buy | Sell | Buy | Sell | |
| Oct 12 | 358.96 | 361.34 | 402.71 | 406.27 | 4.079 | 4.075 |
| Oct 13 | 359.38 | 361.45 | 401.69 | 405.57 | 4.108 | 4.116 |
| Oct 14 | 359.41 | 361.32 | 401.25 | 405.14 | 4.116 | 4.115 |
| Oct 15 | 358.40 | 361.08 | 401.05 | 404.76 | 4.119 | 4.118 |
| Oct 16 | 357.92 | 360.93 | 401.06 | 405.39 | 4.117 | 4.112 |
| Oct 17 | 357.53 | 361.01 | 401.32 | 405.81 | 4.113 | 4.108 |
| Oct 18 | 357.02 | 360.86 | 399.66 | 405.88 | 4.073 | 4.117 |
What is it? A weekly summary of Armenia’s FX market based on official Central Bank data: banks, credit organizations and exchange offices.
Who needs it? Importers and exporters, foreign-currency borrowers and depositors, remittance recipients, banks and analysts.
What does it mean? Dollar supply exceeded demand and the dram kept strengthening: average dollar and euro rates declined, the euro more noticeably. The ruble, by contrast, became more expensive, and ruble sales rose 31% in a week.
What to do about it? Those with payments in euros and rubles should factor in the diverging trends: the euro is getting cheaper while the ruble is getting dearer. The spread between weighted average dollar buying and selling rates was 2.25 drams at banks this week and 2.64 drams at exchange offices (October 12–18).
* Operations with the Central Bank of Armenia and on the Armenia Stock Exchange are not included in the calculations.
Source: Central Bank of Armenia (cba.am). Weekly volumes and weighted average rates are calculated from daily data. The CBA publishes exchange office data with a lag.
