RPA: Russia’s ban on petrol export not to affect prices in Armenia directly

 April 29, 2011 - 11:36 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Member of the opposition ARF Dashnaktsutyun parliamentary group, Deputy Chairman of the RA National Assembly Standing Committee on Financial, Credit and Budgetary Affairs Artsvik Minasyan commented on the statement by head of the Armenian Central Bank (CBA) Arthur Javadyan that credit portfolio of Armenian banks increased by AMD 90bln.

“Under conditions of economic decline, such growth in the financial sector means that the sector is not anyhow related to the real economy,” Minasyan told a press conference on April 29.

He also criticized the CBA policy on suppressing inflation only through decreasing the money stock. Minasyan offered the Armenian authorities to transfer to futures policy concerning primary goods to create predictability in the market.

Member of the ruling Republican Party of Armenian parliamentary group, Chairman of the RA NA Standing Committee on Economic Affairs Vardan Aivazyan disagreed with Minasyan concerning criticism of the CBA.

Aivazyan said that growth in GDP will exceed the indices envisaged under the budget in 2011 due to increase in global prices for raw materials. He also commented on Russia’s ban on petrol export, saying that it can affect prices in Armenia only indirectly. According to Aivazyan, Armenia imports petrol from various countries, while recent growth in its prices is conditioned by sharp increase in global prices.