Guillermo Tolosa, IMF Resident Representative in Armenia, said that Armenia faces considerable challenges related to inflation, what has an impact on prices growth, specifically, those for food.

“Armenia is facing much more significant inflation that is taking place in food markets around the world. But we expect the world inflation in food markets to subside. We think this is going to be only a temporary shock to the Armenian economy,” Tolosa told journalists on March 11, commenting on fundamental challenges of Armenia’s economy.

Referring to IMF forecasts for inflation rate in Armenia, Tolosa said: “We think that inflation is definitely set to come down.” Tolosa added that an increase was recorded in prices in 2011, but IMF believes that Armenia’s agriculture will perform better this year to supply more goods to the market.

“We work on our forecast for 2011 inflation, and it will be definitely lower compared to 2010,” he concluded.