Monday, March 6 2023 18:01
Alina Hovhannisyan

Tigran Jrbashyan considers it expedient to revise target inflation  threshold closer to reality

Tigran Jrbashyan considers it expedient to revise target inflation  threshold closer to reality

ArmInfo. The inflation target should be at a level that is realistic and manageable. Tigran Jrbashyan expressed a similar opinion during the RAU Global Forum, addressing Gvernor of the Central Bank of Armenia Martin Galsyatn, who presented the  "Monetary Policy in the Modern World" report at the forum.

In particular, Jrbashyan wondered why the target of the Central Bank  has remained unchanged for 10 years (4% (+/-1.5), in the case when  the world is changing so rapidly, especially over the past 3-4 years?

In his opinion, the revision of the target threshold will make it  possible, in a certain sense, to soften or, on the contrary, make the  policy of the Central Bank more drastic. Jrbashyan noted that,  observing the actions of the Central Bank in the market, he noticed  that the Regulator is forced to resort to more decisive actions to  achieve the goal, apparently in the absence of an alternative, and  this, as the economist noted, in the conditions of limited tools and  low level of credibility (positive expectations - ed. note).

<Maybe we should be more modest in our goals? And set, for example, a  target threshold of 6%, realizing that this will soften the processes  of the Central Bank, and to some extent weaken the impact of shocks,  which are very often procyclical. I am not saying that I have a  solution, but I believe that this should be considered and  discussed>, he said.