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publié le mercredi 28 juillet 2010

ORANGE AND RIM TO LAUNCH THE BLACKBERRY SOLUTION IN ARMENIA
/JULY 14/Tert.am/
Orange Armenia and Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ : RIMM ; TSX : RIM) today announced the introduction of the BlackBerry® solution in Armenia during this summer. The BlackBerry solution brings together smartphones, software and services to allow easy wireless access to email, phone, calendar, web, multimedia and other business and lifestyle applications. With this launch Orange customers will be able to enjoy the freedom and productivity benefits of using BlackBerry® smartphones to stay connected and have easy access to information while on the go.

ARMENIAN INTEREST RATES REMAIN ON HOLD AS INFLATION TEMPERS FURTHER
/JULY 15/World Markets Research Centre - Global Insight/
The Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) decided to keep its refinancing interest rate stable at 7.25% in July. A similar decision had been taken also on May, following a tightening cycle prior to this.
The decision was based on easing inflation pressures. Indeed, the latest figures from the Armenian Statistical Service show consumer prices rising by 5.8% year-on-year (y/y), following gains of 6.3% y/y in May and 6.8% y/y in April.
In particular, food prices rose by 5.2% y/y, while the cost of non-food goods grew by 8.3% and service prices rose by 6.2% y/y. The cumulative consumer price growth over the first six months of the year settled at 4.5%, while the annual inflation rate for the January-June period made 7.3%.

Significance : Despite being on an unmistakable falling trend now, the Armenian annual inflation still clearly remains above the CBA’s target range of 4% with a band of 1.5 percentage points on either side. Then again, inflation eased somewhat more rapidly in June than expected by the CBA.
This partly reflects moderating external price pressures from the cost of energy. Given that the country is still struggling to return to solid growth after a severe recession, the CBA is eager to support the economy with monetary measures as soon as it can.
However, with the inflation rate still above target, and likely to be boosted by service prices in particular in the coming months, in the wake of the April increase in the price of gas imports from Russia, it is likely to be cautious before embarking on a monetary easing path. The inflation outlook is also subject to exchange rate risks. In any case, the policy rate revisions alone are not yet very effective in controlling lending—and therefore either inflation or economic growth—given that the CBA does not actually engage in much refinancing actions in the still relatively undeveloped financial environment. Instead, interest rate revisions mainly reflect the central bank’s inflation expectations.