YEREVAN, March 16, /ARKA/. Tatul Manaserian, head of ‘Alternative’ think-tank, argued today that the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) and the government have sufficient instruments not only to half the inflation but bring it even to a lower level. According to government data, the 2011 February inflation upped by 1.9% from January to drag the 12 month inflation up to 12.4%.

“Naturally, no government is able to have zero inflation. Moreover, a slight inflation may work as a development stimulus,’ he said speaking at a news conference at Novosti international press center.

During a meeting with top government officials on March 11 president Serzh Sargsyan urged the Central Bank and the government to work hard to have inflation halved by the end of the year.

According to Tatul Manaserian, the country has all necessary resources to achieve this goal. He said some of the Cabinet ministers and other government agencies, like the Commission for Protection of Economic Competition, tax and customs authorities should be called to account for failing to implement the government’s objectives. He went on saying that the government agencies must throw away their old approaches based on recommendations of international organizations and look instead deeper into what a country Armenia is, to form own ides for each sector and harmonize them with the program of securing progress.

He reasoned that remote areas of the country must enjoy some tax and other privileges and called for setting up free economic zones.

“It is good that our government plans to carry out some of these programs, but they are not enough to ensure Armenia’s complete exit of the crisis. We all have to understand that we are responsible for our economy,’ he said.

The government has projected a 4±1.5% inflation for 2011. The Central Bank said earlier it expects inflation to slow down gradually in next several months and then to drop to below 5.5%. -0-