Economic Activity Decline Recorded in Armenia Due to Pandemic Impact

The Central Bank of Armenia addressed its decision to keep the refinancing rate unchanged and presented the minutes from the Central Bank Council meeting held on July 28, 2020. Present at the meeting were the Central Bank President Martin Galstyan, Deputy Presidents Nerses Yeritsyan and Vahtang Abrahamyan, and other council members including Hasmik Ghahramanyan, Armenak Darbinyan, Oleg Aghasyan, and Hovhannes Khachatryan.

The meeting began with the presentation of the situational report as of July 28. Discussions centered on inflation, external environment, developments in real, fiscal-budgetary, financial and monetary sectors within the context of ongoing pandemic challenges, mitigation of economic repercussions, and restoration of economic activity.

It was noted that in June 2020, there was a recorded deflation of 1.4%, compared to a deflation of 1.9% in the same month of the previous year, leading to a 12-month inflation increase to 1.7%. The deflation in June was mainly driven by a 3.5% decrease in the prices of the