YEREVAN (Tert.am)–By November of this year, there were 298 places for exchanging foreign currency in the Republic of Armenia, including 97 places in the regions. Compared to November 2008, the number of foreign exchange locations have increased by 15, reports local business paper Capital Daily.

According to the Central Bank of Armenia’s public relations service, between January and November of this year, the amount of funds being exchanged at foreign exchange locations has increased in general: $710 million (increase of 12.2 percent), €81.3 million (increase of 22.1 percent), and 4.6 billion RUB (increase of 19.7 percent) have been exchanged this year.

During the first 11 months of this year, there have been 371 inspections into foreign exchange locations, 93 of which have uncovered violations of laws relating to foreign exchange locations’ activities.

Those violations predominantly had to do with irreconciled cash and area-specific technology; not issuing receipts and obstructions during inspections have also been registered. By September 30, there were 1,037 cases of counterfeit currency registered.