YEREVAN, September 25. /ARKA/. At a meeting today Armenia’s Central Bank Board decided to leave the refinancing rate unchanged at 6%, saying also that inflation in August 2018 stood at 0.6% as opposed to 0.4% deflation reported for the same month a year ago. The resulting 12-month inflation at the end of August 2018 was 3.3%, it said.
The Central Bank said also that both the general and natural inflations were within the projected range and that it expects the 12-month inflation to be a little lower than projected in the coming months.
The Central Bank believes that despite the gradual tightening of financing terms in the international capital markets, this trend’s impact on volatility in the financial markets of developing countries has to some extent weakened. It noted also that in the first half of 2018 a higher than expected year-on-year economic growth was registered in Armenia at 8.3%, which dropped to 7.7% for January-August.
The regulator believes that the impact of the restraining fiscal policy on gross demand in the third quarter was partially offset by the ongoing active private investments. In view of these developments, the Central Bank considers it expedient to maintain the stimulating monetary and credit conditions and keep the current level of the refinancing rate unchanged.
The Central Bank said also it will maintain the stimulating monetary and credit environment which it expects to gradually neutralize in the future.
As a result, the inflation is expected to remain at a slightly lower level than projected and stabilize in the coming months around the projected 4%. In March 2017, the Central Bank suspended the easing of monetary policy, setting the refinancing rate at 6%. -0-
