ArmInfo. From May 25 to 29, 2026, both US dollar and ruble transactions declined in the Armenian interbank foreign exchange market, while euro transactions have not been carried out for over three months. Specifically, the contraction of dollar transactions slowed down imperceptibly from 74.4% to 66.7%, whereas the trend for ruble transactions reversed from a substantial 6.6-fold surge toward a 68.3% decline.
Nevertheless, the weekly volume of ruble transactions continued to outweigh dollar transactions, though the gap narrowed from 16 times to 15.3 times. Meanwhile, in the intra-bank foreign exchange market during the reporting week (May 25–29, 2026, compared to May 18–22, 2026), commercial buying of US dollars began to decline while sales shifted into growth; the buying and selling of euros remained stuck in a slump; and for ruble transactions, the trend for both buying and selling reversed from growth to a decline.
As a result, from May 25- 29, 2026, the Armenian dram weakened against both the US dollar—moving from 366.5 to 369.3 AMD/$1—and the euro—moving from 426.8 to 429.5 AMD/ EUR 1. Meanwhile, it strengthened slightly against the Russian ruble, shifting from 5.08 to 5.04 AMD/RUB1. A year earlier, on May 29, 2025, the exchange rate of the dram stood at 384.5 AMD/$1 against the dollar, 434.5 AMD/EUR1 against the euro, and 4.82 AMD/RUB1 against the ruble. Compared to current rates, this indicates a year-on-year revaluation of the dram against the dollar and euro by 4% and 1%, respectively, and a 5% devaluation against the ruble.
According to data from the Central Bank of Armenia, ruble transactions were conducted daily in the interbank foreign exchange market from May 25 to May 29 of this year (with May 28 being a non-working public holiday), while dollar transactions occurred only once. Notably, both dollar and ruble transactions were executed simultaneously on Wednesday (May 27). In total, the total weekly volume of ruble transactions reached 1.096 billion rubles at an average exchange rate of 5.14 AMD/RUB1 (compared to 5.13 AMD/RUB1 a week earlier). The volume of a single dollar transaction amounted to $1 million at an average exchange rate of 368.70 AMD/$1 (compared to 368.33 AMD/$1 a week earlier). The peak volume for ruble transactions was recorded on Friday (May 29), totaling 516 million rubles.
In the interbank foreign exchange market from May 25 to 29 of this year compared to the previous week (18-22.05.26), the trend for dollar buying operations reversed from a 15.1% growth to a 25.1% decline, while the trend for dollar sales shifted out of a 16.5% slump into an 11.2% growth. The decline in euro buying and selling slowed from 5.2-29.3% to 4.8-18.3%, and for ruble transactions, the buying and selling trend reversed from a 49.8-22.8% increase to an 18.1-9.8% decrease. As a result, during the reporting week, $168.5 million was purchased at an average rate of 366.64 AMD/$1, 35.7 million euros at an average rate of 424.40 AMD/1EUR, and 10.7 billion rubles at an average rate of 4.81 AMD /1 RUB, and $240.8 million were sold at an average rate of 369.11 AMD/$1, 44.2 million euros at an average rate of 431.38 AMD/1 EUR, and 3.02 billion rubles at an average rate of 5.20 AMD/1 RUB. During the reporting week, the maximum volume of ruble sales was recorded on Tuesday (May 26 - 962.6 million rubles). Wednesday witnessed the highest volume of dollar sales ($69.6 million) Friday recorded the peak volumes for dollar buying (over $48.8 million), ruble buying (3.02 billion RUB), and both euro buying and selling operations (EUR10.9 million and EUR12.9 million, respectively). According to the Central Bank of Armenia, in Q1 2026, the Central Bank intervened in the foreign exchange market totaling $603.1 million, strengthening the exchange rate from 381.49 AMD/$1 in December to 378.63 AMD/$1 in March.
In the inteabank foreign exchange market in Q1 2026, $1.97 billion, 479.2 million euros, and 95.2 billion rubles were purchased, and $2.23 billion, 642 million euros, and 41.7 billion rubles were sold. This resulted in a buying rate of 376.10 AMD/$1, 433.44 AMD/EUR1, and 4.67 AMD/RUB1 in the interbank foreign exchange market in March, while the selling rate was 378.49 AMD/$1, 439.42 AMD/EUR1, and 4.74 AMD/RUB1, compared to December 2025 buying rates of 380.38 AMD/$1, 442.74 AMD/EUR1, and 4.83 AMD/RUB1, and selling rates of 382.62 AMD/$1, 449.26 AMD/EUR1, and 4.91 AMD/RUB1.
In the interbank FX market in Q1 2026, dollar transactions totaled $107.2 million, euro transactions totaled 5.3 million, and ruble transactions totaled 7.2 billion. Moreover, no euro transactions were carried out in March. Over this period, the Armenian dram strengthened on the interbank market against both the ruble— reaching 4.65 AMD/RUB1—and the dollar—reaching 378.18 AMD/$1—up from December 2025 levels of 4.88 AMD/RUB1 and 381.33 AMD/$1, respectively. Recall, ruble transactions in the Armenian interbank FX market began on March 14, 2022. On the stock exchange's currency platform, US dollar transactions totaling $17.3 million were conducted during the first quarter of 2026. These trades were accompanied by a strengthening of the dram to 378.19 AMD/$1 by March, up from 387.75 AMD/$1 in October—the month when dollar transactions had last been recorded on the exchange floor the previous year.
