Recent Inflation Rate in Armenia at Least 15%, Economist Says

The current inflation rate for Armenia is at least 15%, economist Vahagn Khachatryan stated on Tuesday during a press conference focusing on the recent price rises in the country and the increase of tux burden.

“In a country with a 30% poverty rate, even the slightest price increase for everyday commodities cannot be ignored. And if we reduce the range of goods from 4,000 to 50, we’ll see that the inflation rate is in fact not 2.5% but at least 15%. That’s why there is so much discontent,” the expert insisted.

Back in 2017, he went on, during the discussion of the state budget in the National Assembly, “the authorities were well aware of the expected inflation rates.”

“We can say that this budget was all about price rises, as we all understand what an excise duty increase means. The picture was in fact clear even during the budget discussion. With such rates, in the next three months, there will be no price drops, for example, for gasoline, taking into account the situation on the international market. Besides, there is another circumstance that we can never look past, which is Armenia’s monopolized economy,” Khachatryan said,