The Armenian Statistical Committee said on Monday that the national food price index was 2.1 percent down from May 2022, reflecting a worldwide trend. The government agency recorded roughly 20 percent decreases in the prices of vegetables, wheat and cooking oil. Fuel prices in the country likewise plummeted by an average of 25 percent year on year, it said.
This was offset by further sizable rises in the cost of services, clothing and other consumer goods. The continuing robust growth of the Armenian economy suggests that consumer demand for them remains strong.
Most people randomly interviewed on the streets of Yerevan on Tuesday said that they have not yet felt the effects of falling inflation on their well-being.
“Things are still expensive, very expensive, compared with last year,” one of them told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
“The cost of living has gone up,” complained another Yerevan resident.
“Inflationary pressures remain … and I think this explains why the Central Bank is in no rush to soften its [monetary] policy,” said Narek Karapetian, an independent economist.
The Armenian Central Bank has raised its benchmark refinancing rate by a total of 625 basis points since December 2020 in an effort to curb rising inflation. Despite expecting the inflation rate to remain below its annual target of 4 percent in the months ahead, the bank has so far indicated no plans to cut the rate.