A high-level workshop hosted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA), and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in Yerevan on April 27, and in Tshaghkadzor on April 28–29, considered ways to improve monetary policy tools and central bank instruments in support of implementation of a modern monetary framework of inflation targeting (IT). Strengthened IT regimes - which include clear and consistent policy objectives and robust central bank operational independence, communications, and accountability - can help better anchor expectations about future inflation and contribute to dedollarization, stronger local currency markets, reduced uncertainty, and less severe boom-bust cycles.

The workshop brought together representatives from the central banks of Albania, Armenia, Belarus, the Czech Republic, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Mongolia, Norway, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Tajikistan, and Ukraine, as well as staff from the IMF and the EBRD, and international modeling and forecasting experts. To help frame the discussion, policymakers from central banks with more extensive practice in the application of IT (the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland) shared their experiences thus far.

The workshop will continue in Tshaghkadzor, April 30–May 6, with a technical segment offering specialized training in the development and use of modeling and forecasting tools in support of an IT regime, IMF said in a press release.