BLOOMBERG: OTHER COUNTRIES SHOULD FOLLOW ARMENIA’S EXPERIENCE OF TRANSITION TO FLOATING RATE

ARKA
March 6, 2009

YEREVAN, March 6. /ARKA/. Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan should
abandon their currency management regimes and move toward a free
float like nearby Armenia to protect their economies against the
global credit crisis, Commerzbank AG and UBS AG said on Thursday,
as Bloomberg reports.

"Armenia has done better than all the others by moving straight to a
free float," said Michael Ganske, head of emerging-markets research
in London at Commerzbank.

"It gives them the flexibility to adjust to new economic scenarios. In
the current global environment it’s very, very hard to maintain an
overvalued currency."

The Central Bank of Armenia decided Tuesday to reduce its intervention
in foreign exchange market and to return to a floating exchange
rate regime.

The Central Bank’s experts expect exchange rate to range from AMD
360 to 380 per dollar in 2009.