YEREVAN, June 14. /ARKA/. Armenia will end this year with inflation exceeding 8%, the chairman of the Central Bank Martin Galstyan said today.

Speaking at a press conference, he said the current 9% inflation rate is expected to rise further in the coming months, but the yearned figure will be above 8%.

Galstyan noted that international food prices are extremely high, for several reasons, including due to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, as a result of which there are serious problems with commodities such as wheat and sunflower oil, since these two countries are major exporters of these commodities to international markets.

The second of the existing problems, according to the head of the Central Bank, is related to value chains and transport logistics. "Thus, we have nothing encouraging in the coming months," Galstyan said.

Armenia's 12-month consumer inflation rate in May 2022 was 9%.  Armenian government’s growth projection for 2022 is 7%, and the inflation is set at 4% (± 1.5%). The Central Bank had revised its growth forecast for 2022 from 1.6% to 4.9%.

According to the World Bank’s latest Global Economic Prospects report, Armenia's GDP in 2022 is expected to grow by 3.5%, down 1.3 p.p. from the previous forecast, made in January.

World Bank analysts expect Armenia's GDP to grow by 4.6% in 2023 (0.8 p.p. down from the January forecast) and by 4.9% in 2024.

Armenia's economic activity index (EAI) in the first 4 months of 2022 registered a 9.4% year-on-year growth, the National Statistical Committee reported earlier. -0-