YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 9, NOYAN TAPAN. At the September 8 sitting, the Board of the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) made a decision to reduce the refinancing rate by 0.25 percentage points to 5%. According to the CBA PR Service, a deflation of 0.4% was recorded in August on July 2009, as a result of which the 12-month inflation amounted to 3.5%. The CBA Board said that there have been signs of some improvement in the global economy, combined with a gradual rise in international prices of raw materials and some foodstuffs. Under these conditions, despite the continuous trends to a decine in gross demand, there have been no inflationary pressures in domestic markets. Taking into account the continuing trends towards GDP decline and the opinions about remaining inflation in the target period, the CBA Board considers it expedient to reduce the interest rates, which is in line with the current trends in financial markets and contributes to activation of the economy, while not posing a danger to price stability.

---