Armenia's Official Reserves Rise to $6.67bn at End of September

Armenia's official reserve assets rose to USD 6,665.84 million at the end of September 2026, up from USD 5,185.50 million at the end of January, according to data the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) published on 30 October.

The figures come from the CBA's data template on international reserves and foreign currency liquidity, which the bank compiles monthly in millions of US dollars. By CBJ's calculation, reserves grew by USD 1,480.34 million, or 28.5 per cent, over the eight months to the end of September.

A steady climb through the year

Reserves rose at every month-end from February to September. They stood at USD 5,520.73 million at the end of February, USD 5,862.58 million at the end of May and USD 5,898.91 million at the end of June. The third quarter brought the fastest growth: USD 6,188.57 million at the end of July, USD 6,532.11 million at the end of August and USD 6,665.84 million at the end of September.

By CBJ's calculation, reserves increased by USD 766.93 million, or 13.0 per cent, in the third quarter, and by USD 133.73 million, or 2.0 per cent, in September alone.

What the reserves are made of

Almost all of the reserves are held in convertible foreign currencies: USD 6,664.12 million at the end of September. Securities made up USD 4,377.15 million of that, against USD 2,143.80 million at the end of January, which means the bank has more than doubled its securities holdings this year. The rest sits mainly in currency and deposits. Special drawing rights stood at USD 1.52 million, and the template shows no gold holdings.

The template also lists predetermined short-term drains on foreign currency assets. Foreign currency loans, securities and deposits due within a year amounted to USD 2,832.90 million at the end of September, of which USD 2,554.74 million was principal and USD 278.16 million interest. Most of it, USD 2,148.19 million, falls due within one month.

The wider picture

The build-up has coincided with a stronger dram. The Statistical Committee of Armenia's preliminary main macroeconomic indicators for September 2026 give an exchange rate of AMD 363.59 per US dollar for September, against AMD 379.98 for January.

The same release shows the economic activity indicator up 6.9 per cent in January to September. External trade turnover was USD 14,953.4 million, up 2.7 per cent, with exports down 8.0 per cent to USD 5,163.1 million and imports up 9.5 per cent to USD 9,790.3 million. By CBJ's calculation, end-September reserves equal a little over six months of the average monthly goods imports recorded in the nine months.

The CBA's website shows annual inflation of 4.3 per cent in September 2026 and a countercyclical capital buffer of 1.75 per cent, which is set to rise to 2 per cent from 1 February 2027 and to 2.25 per cent from 1 May 2027. The bank puts the credit-to-GDP gap at 6.6 per cent for the second quarter of 2026.

On the fiscal side, CBJ reported this week on payments by Armenia's 1,000 largest taxpayers in the first nine months.

What it means for business

Larger reserves give the central bank more room to smooth swings in the dram, which matters for importers, borrowers with foreign currency loans and foreign investors weighing exchange-rate risk. The template also shows that most of the short-term foreign currency obligations it lists, USD 2,148.19 million of USD 2,832.90 million, fall due within a month.

The scheduled rise in the countercyclical buffer means banks will have to hold more capital against their lending in 2027. Lenders and their corporate clients can factor the February and May steps into their funding plans now. For comparison with a neighbour, CBJ reported earlier this week that Azerbaijan's reserves cover its external debt 19.8 times.