UMA: 20% rise in prices for imported products in Armenia

YEREVAN, March 11. /ARKA/. The price for imported products have shown a
rise of 20% in Armenia in proportion with the USD revaluation against
the Armenian Dram, Tsolvard Gevorgyan, Chairwoman of the Union of
Merchants of Armenia (UMA) told reporters.

On March 3, the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) announced a return to a
floating rate regime. CBA experts forecast an AMD/USD exchange rate of
360 to 380 AMD/$1. As a result, the average market AMD/USD exchange
rate became 372.11 AMD/$1.

Ad of today it is 361.28 AMD/$1.

`The prices for imported products have shown a rise of 205 in Armenia,
though the prices for some home-made products have risen as well,’
Gevorgyan said.

She pointed out that the situation may worsen after April 1, when the
new gas, energy and water prices officially take effect.

`Although the rise will not be considerable, it may cause panic and a
jump in prices, which will influence the economy,’ Gevorgyan said.

Monitoring conducted by the RA State Commission for Protection of
Economic Competition showed the situation to be stable in the country,
and a rise of 10-12 per cent in the prices for some essential products
was only registered.`0–