YEREVAN, May 12. /ARKA/. The board of the Central Bank of Armenia decided Tuesday to leave the current 10.5% refinancing rate unchanged, the press office of the regulator reports.

According to the central bank, a 0.4% deflation was recorded in Armenia in April 2015 against 0.5% inflation in April 2014, and as a result a 12-month inflation went down to 4.8% by the end of April.

Growth slowed down in the external sector as deflation environment remained at international raw materials and foods markets.

Taking into account the mentioned developments, the central bank expects deflation impacts from the outside.

The regulator's board placed it on record that economic activity index rose 2.5% in the first quarter of this year thanks to a higher-than-expected growth in agriculture and contraction sectors.

This rally in agriculture is expected to drive food prices down. On the other hand, the likely increase in electricity prices will neutralize the deflation and the present refinancing rate will allow stabilization of the 12-month inflation around the projected rate.

In the future, the central bank, taking into consideration economic developments, will corrected its monetary policy ensuring the projected inflation rate in medium run.

The latest change in the refinancing rate was made on February 10, 2015 – the regulator then rose it from 9.5% to 10.5%. --0--