YEREVAN (Azg)–Head of the International Monetary Fund delegation–Thanos Katsambas–said that the combination of the duties of the Chairman of the Central Bank and deputy of the Armenian National Assembly may result in a conflict of interests. Katsambas suggested that the Chairman of the Central Bank should resign as deputy of the parliament.
Katsambas believes this proposal should not be considered as an interference in the internal affairs of the country. He said that the Central Bank should be an independent structure–free from any political influence. He explained that the IMF makes such proposals not only in Armenia–but also in other countries. Based on the same principle of independence–IMF suggested that Ministers should never be the board members of commercial banks.
Chairman of the Central Bank Bagrat Asatrian held a press conference Monday and said that IMF’s resolution was based on a declaration made during the discussion of the Law about Banks and Banking.
Asatrian resigned as deputy of the National Assembly–two ministers resigned as board members of commercial banks.