Deputy Chairman of the RA NA Edurd Sharmazanov says that compared to May, the prices of basic necessities have increased several times. We went through not only economics, but also arithmetic, which several times means at least 200%. Mesrop Arakelyan, adviser to the RA Prime Minister, wrote about this on his Facebook page.

He casts doubt on Charmazanov’s statement and suggests to show the name of at least one product or service out of more than 300 products or services, which has increased in price several times compared to May.

The Prime Minister’s adviser promises to present how much the price of the product has increased or decreased in the near future. “Food became cheaper in October by 4.5% compared to May,” he notes and asks a sarcastic question. “Now, if I ask whether the price increase was calculated by CPI or GDP deflator, the live will be turned off, won’t it?”

The topic was also touched upon by an economist, a candidate for parliament under the “My step” party list Babken Tunaincalling the statements about “several” price increases “groundless” and “inflation-provoking”.

“So, the 12-month inflation in October 2018 (October this year, compared to October last year) was 2.8%. It is not only within the permissible range (2.5% to 5.5%), but also close to its lower limit. Let me tell non-economists that moderate inflation is necessary for the economy. neither high inflation is a good thing nor too low inflation or deflation.

For example, in May and June of this year, when the 12-month inflation decreased and reached 0.9%, one of the former ministers who is a member of the RPA, who is a brilliant economist, expressed fair concern on this occasion. There’s nothing to worry about now, but if you’re worried… I won’t tell you…

If you look at it by individual product groups, food prices have increased by 3.5% over the past 12 months, which is again within the norm. The price of beef increased the most, by 22.7%.

So, when they say that the prices of some products have increased several times, it is, to put it mildly, misinformation.

And most importantly,

Or, are you concerned about new price increases, are you concerned about further price increases….

Therefore, if a person is really concerned about an unacceptably high increase in prices, he should be more than careful and responsible with his wording. Because prices are greatly influenced by expectations. And if there is a lot of talk about the fact that the prices of some products will soon “jump”, that is what happens. inflationary expectations are formed among people, thinking that the prices will really increase, they rush to the shops to buy a large amount of these products. The demand increases sharply, an artificial deficit arises, which leads to an increase in prices. In other words, what was being talked about is happening.

Moreover, the situation can get out of control and turn into a panic, as happened with the dollar in December 2014. These are textbook truths.

So, if the inflation is moderate, and some are constantly talking about the possible increase in prices, spreading false data about the several times increase in prices, they are not concerned, but on the contrary, they are trying to “incite” inflation. If they do all this with understanding, it’s bad, if without understanding, it’s even worse,” says the expert.