Armenian central bank leaves 8% benchmark refinancing rate unchanged
06.03.2012,
20:11
The board of the Central Bank of Armenia decided Tuesday to leave the current 8% benchmark refinancing rate unchanged, the central bank’s press office reports.
YEREVAN, March 6. /ARKA/. The board of the Central Bank of Armenia decided Tuesday to leave the current 8% benchmark refinancing rate unchanged, the central bank’s press office reports.
In its report, the banking regulator says that 0.9% month-on-month deflation was recorded in February. As a result, February’s year-on-year inflation subsided by 1.8 percentage points, compared with that of the previous month, to 3%. Now inflation rate stands within the projected 4 ±1.5%.
The board also put it on record that optimistic economic activity outlooks and prospects for the world economic growth in developed countries as well as world prices for raw materials and foods have shaped a weak inflation environment.
Prices for oil products, which rose amid geopolitical problems in the Middle East, were taken into account in the central bank’s 1st Q monetary policy program as risk.
The board members don’t think these developments will impact Armenia’s inflation environment over the next couple of months.
They also say that impacts of economic developments, particularly tax and budgetary policy, private expenses and the labor market’s impacts, on inflation in Armenia remain neutral.
According to the board’s report, Armenia’s economy in terms of domestic and external developments is moving ahead in line with trends projected in the central bank’s monetary policy program.
The regulator finds the projected 4 ±1.5% twelve-month inflation rate attainable.
The latest change of the benchmark refinancing rate was on September 6, 2011, when the central bank lowered it to 8% from 8.5%.
In the 2012 government budget, inflation is projected at 4 ±1.5%.-0---
