ARMENIAN MINISTER FORECASTS 8%-10% INFLATION IN ARMENIA IN 2009

ARKA
March 19, 2009

YEREVAN, March 19. /ARKA/. Armenia’s inflation is likely to reach
8%-10% due to the global economic slowdown, said RA Minister of
Finance Tigran Davtyan.

Commenting on the Central Bank’s retrieval of the floating foreign
exchange policy, the minister stressed that the "Central Bank’s has
always followed the free-floating currency policy."

According to Davtyan, CBA can simultaneously implement another foreign
currency policy to ensure financial stability, with the free-floating
currency being its long-term policy.

"The rise in import prices was due to exchange rate adjustments,"
the minister said, adding market prices had soon returned to their
former notch.

On March 3, the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) officially returned
to the floating national currency exchange rate. According to CBA
experts, the Armenian dram /U.S. dollar exchange rate is expected to
range from AMD 360 to AMD 380 per $1.