YEREVAN, August 14. / ARKA /. Tatul Manaserian, head of a Yerevan-based Alternative think-tank said today the Central Bank’s decision to raise its key refinancing rate by 0.5 percentage point will not have any tangible impact on efforts to reduce the inflation rate.
Armenia’s Central Bank raised yesterday its benchmark refinancing rate by 50 basis points to 8.50 percent, saying it expects inflation to slowly decline in coming months amid slower economic growth, which will allow the central bank to loosen monetary conditions.
The Central Bank of Armenia said also the headline inflation rose by 0.4 percent in July for an annual rate of 8.5 percent, up from 6.5 percent in June.
He described the regulator’s monetary policy as ‘efficient’, emphasizing that one should not hope for economic progress and falling prices relying solely on monetary policy.
“The Central Bank is responsible for price stability, but not for their regulation, as some experts claim often mistakenly. In this sense I believe that the Central Bank’s performance can be considered as satisfactory, «he said.
According to Manaserian, an increase in prices for goods and services can be prevented by strengthening government control, but, to date, it has not fully utilized any of its supervision functions.
According to the National Statistical Service, the inflation in January-June rose by 4 percent year-on-year.
The Armenian central bank targets inflation of 4.0 percent within a 1.5 percentage point band. -0-
