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| Armenians Prefer To Keep Their Money In Cash Us Dollars |
 Yerevan,
March 11, Armenpress: A recent survey conducted by the Armenian Central
Bank to find out what hard currency cash Armenians prefer to have revealed
that 84 percent of cash held by citizens was in US Dollars. According to
Hakob Zorian, head of a Central Bank department, the amount of cash in hard
currency kept by Armenians increased from $572 million in 2003 to $915 million
in 2004, of which 871 million were in US Dollars. In 2003 this figure was
$560 million. The per capita amount of hard currency cash was equal to $190
in 2003 and $304 in 2004.
The survey was conducted among 900 households. It also revealed that well-to-do families kept 98 percent of their cash money in US Dollars, middle-class families kept 82.4 percent of their money in greenbacks, while very poor families only 15 percent of their cash. Also 57 percent of respondents preferred to keep their savings in US Dollars, 35 percent in the national currency-dram and 6 and 2 percent in euros and other hard currencies respectively. He also said last year around $760 million were remitted by Armenians working abroad to their families in Armenia, a 26 percent rise against the previous 2003. He said forty percent of respondents receive money transfers from abroad. |