The Armenian dram has taken over 16% Thursday the US dollar after weeks of depreciation was accelerated dramatically earlier this week due to the turmoil in the currency market of Russia.

The national currency of Armenia was trading at an average of 476 drams per dollar in the evening, against 553 drams per dollar the previous night. The dram has therefore largely regained its lost value since last weekend. Still, it was 13.5% lower than the greenback early November.

The dram rebounded strongly despite the apparent absence of increased monetary intervention by the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA). ABC said in the afternoon that his last strong money supply of $ 4 million per day has attracted any offer to buy the local commercial banks.

The Governor of the Central Bank, Artur Javadian, insisted on Wednesday that the dram was clearly undervalued and that it would begin appreciate again soon. Javadian blamed his considerable impairment of speculators and “panic” which, he said, has spread in Russia. But he also acknowledged that the dependence of Armenia to several million cash inflows from Russia constituted an aggravating factor.

The ruble has appreciated by 9% Wednesday after falling dramatically Monday and Tuesday. Its exchange rate remained virtually unchanged Thursday.

Hovik Abrahamyan Prime Minister noted the rebound dram at the opening of the weekly session of his cabinet in the morning. “A stabilization trend was observed in the financial market between yesterday afternoon and today,” he said. “I’m sure it will continue.”

“Yesterday I met with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, other relevant organizations and economic entities,” said Abrahamian to ministers. “Our international partners fully support our efforts to stabilize the financial market in the context of strong fluctuations in exchange rates conditioned by external factors.”

Javadian CBA spent four hours answering questions from lawmakers on the monetary crisis during an emergency session of the Armenian parliament held in camera on Wednesday night. Gagik Khachatryan Finance Minister and other senior government officials were also present at the session, which lasted six hours. On leaving, the President of Parliament Galust Sahakyan told reporters he believed the exchange rate of the dram would stabilize by the end of this month.

Members of the opposition were far from satisfied. Levon Zurabian the Armenian National Congress said the head of ABC failed to clearly explain the causes of volatility in exchange rates which affected negatively the economic activity in the country. Zurabian said that the depreciation of the dram was made possible by a lack of foreign investment and Armenia capital outflows.

Another opposition MP, former Prime Minister Hrant Bagratyan said that the weakening of the dram has already reduced the standard of living in the country. “The dram may rise a bit, but the economy can not meet our needs,” he said. “So the worst is ahead of us. »