ArmInfo. Today the situation has developed in such a way that the inflation rate predicted by the Central Bank in 4% (+/- 1.5) will be real. The chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia Arthur Javadyan said during the hearings in the National Assembly on May 29.
At that, he stressed that a serious impact on inflation will be provided by agricultural production, and a number of other factors, including external and regional risks, international price trends, etc. "Comparing all this, to date, we believe that inflation is at a predictable level," Javadyan said. However, he said, the full picture will be more clear in September, and before that - in the summer season, as usual, Armenia will enter the deflationary stage with the concomitant decline in prices for agricultural products. In the same context, Javadyan expressed positive expectations related to the situation in agriculture, in particular, with the volume of the crop, in case there are no natural disasters. At the same time, he noted that in summer the growth in the tourism industry is expected, which will entail an increase in the level of aggregate demand and consumption. "I believe that by the end of 2018, inflation will nevertheless approach the target of 4% and stabilize in the permissible range of fluctuations," he added.
Javadyan noted that in 2017 the Central Bank of Armenia continued the policy of reducing the refinancing rate from 6.25% to 6%, thereby softening the inflationary environment. In this regard, he recalled that in 2017 Armenia completed inflation at the level of 2.6%.
Javadyan informed that the Central Bank's report on the inflation rate for the II quarter would be published in the next few days.