RA prime minister: RA government intends to actuate administrative
levers to restrain inflation

2008-05-29 15:16:00

ArmInfo. RA government intends to actuate administrative levers to
restrain inflation, as solution of this problem is a problem number one
in the republic, RA Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisyan said at today’s
government session.

As he said, the Gallup polls have shown that the society is most of all
concerned over the price rise in Armenia today. The premier said that
the government is not satisfied with the degree of elasticity of prices
as their rise happens rapidly and sufficiently while the cut in prices
– slowly. Unfortunately, the premier said, the government do not
succeed to restrain inflation without administrative levers.

He paid the governmental members’ attention to the fact that a sharp
fall in prices for bread, cereal products and rice has been fixed in
the international markets. In particular, the grain prices during the
last month dropped by 42% and for rice – by 22%, that created
favourable conditions for the tendency of reduction for these
foodstuffs in Armenia, which have a high specific weight in the
consumer basket, T. Sarkisyan said. The premier charged the Economy and
finance Ministry, as well as the Central Bank and the Commission for
Protection of Economic Competition to submit proposals for control of
inflation. "The problem of prices is in the center of the government’s
attention and, first of all, we shall carry out inspections in the
organizations, where the rise in prices is not adequate to the world
tendencies", the premier said.

To recall, according to the data of the National Statistical Service of
Armenia, inflation in Armenia in April, as compared with March, made up
1,1%, over Jan-Apr – 6%. The annual inflation indicator has been fixed
by the budget 2008 at 4% level with deviations at the rate of
1,5%,,however, the experts forecast to 10%.