FRANKFURT: Armenia is not considering abandoning its currency, the dram, for the Russian rouble, the head of financial regulation at the Central Bank of Armenia told Reuters.
Speculation that Armenia might give up the floating-rate currency has grown since September, when the government said it would join a Russian-led customs union to which Belarus and Kazakhstan already belong.
"There is no such issue on the agenda as moving into the rouble and leaving the dram," Mher Abrahamyan, the central bank official, said on the sidelines of a financial conference on Friday, which coincided with the 20th anniversary of the introduction of the dram.
Abrahamyan downplayed chances that taking part in the Russian union could affect Armenia's currency. "It is a pure customs union," he said.
After a devaluation in 2009, the dram has held broadly steady to the US dollar. "We are more or less comfortable and confident with the currency situation," Abrahamyan said.
The Armenian rapprochement with Russia took many by surprise, after Armenia's previous efforts at an association agreement and closer integration with Europe. But Armenia is still in conflict with neighbouring Azerbaijan and relies on Russia for security guarantees.
Fighting between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted in 1991 over the mostly Armenian region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The region broke away from Muslim Azerbaijan with the backing of Christian Armenia as the Soviet Union collapsed.
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