YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 1, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia expects that this year, compared to 2021, the prices of food products will increase at slower rates. The Bank has also calculated the inflation expected as a result of the increase in electricity, water tariffs, CBA President Martin Galstyan said at a press conference.

“The prices of food products have increased by nearly 12%. And it is mainly caused by two sources: the first one is the inflation coming from external markets which is a global phenomenon. For instance, at this moment the inflation in Armenia is 7.7%, meanwhile the United States ended the year with nearly 7% inflation, the country hasn’t seen such inflation since 1982. If I am not mistaken, the inflation in Russia is 8.4%”, the CBA Governor said, recalling that the inflation in Armenia has decreased to 7.7% from 9.6%.

The second source of inflation is the increase in prices of several seasonal goods. “To expect that this year inflation in terms of food products will repeat its behavior of 2021, I think it is not so according to our base scenario. We expect that the food prices will increase at slower rates”, he said.

The Central Bank has also calculated the expected inflation as a result of the change in prices of water and electricity. Accordingly, it will comprise nearly 0.6%.

The Central Bank assesses its work in terms of restraining the prices as positive. “Our calculations show that if last year we haven’t taken actions, and if those actions haven’t been directed for the future, our inflation would have been 15%, not 11% for the food products, which supposes that the food inflation would have been more than 20%. We expect that we will approach our targeted figure by the end of the year”, Martin Galstyan said.

The price of electricity increased in Armenia by 4.7 drams starting February 1, 2022.