Economist Akaki Tsomaia deeply believes that the discussions around the latest decision of the National Bank's Monetary Policy Committee are more political than expert judgment.
As Akaki Tsomaia told TV program "Analytics", the main emphasis in the NBG's assessment should be on inflationary expectations, which were less evident in this case.
According to him, the decision to leave the rate unchanged is logical given the current situation. On May 7, the National Bank left the refinancing rate unchanged at 8%.
"The National Bank's assessment was more political than expert judgment. The main emphasis in the NBG's assessment should be on inflationary expectations. Ultimately, whatever the preamble of the NBG's statement, it should reasonably reflect inflationary expectations and base the forecast on this. If inflationary expectations increase, this might be reflected in actual inflation. However, this was less visible in the assessment.
As for the decision, it is logical. In January, there was really low inflation, in February it became clear that inflation had increased, in March it also became clear that inflation was increasing, although there is nothing alarming yet. At the moment, in principle, it is correct to keep the rate unchanged and not reduce it, however, if they expect that annual inflation will remain at 4%, it is logical to maintain the current rate," Akaki Tsomaia said.
