Azerbaijan's central bank forecasts inflation at single-digit level
By Aynur Karimova
The Central Bank of Azerbaijan forecasts inflation to be at the single-digit level in the bank's report on monetary policy in the first half of 2015.
The bank reported that according to Azerbaijan's State Statistics Committee, the inflation rate for the first six months of 2015 stood at 3.5 percent.
"The prices of bakery increased by 9.5 percent, oils by 11.8 percent, vegetables - 10.5 percent, coffee, tea and cocoa - 9.4 percent, while the costs of vegetables decreased in the reported period. In the first half of year, the production prices of agricultural products increased by 8.7 percent, including the cost of livestock production by 1.5 percent, crop production - 15.6 percent, and fish products by 3.8 percent," CBA noted.
The nominal effective exchange rate, inflation expectations, and high inflation rates in Azerbaijan’s partner states had an upward impact on prices in the country, while seasonal factors, the monetary base, and the change of food prices in the world in contrast had negative impacts on inflation.
CBA also said that the average annual inflation in Azerbaijan’s trading partners amounted to 8.2 percent from January to June 2015.
According to the forecasts of the bank's experts based on data from the International Monetary Fund, the average annual inflation of Azerbaijan's partners will be 7.9 percent.
Earlier, the IMF reported that it predicts Azerbaijan's average annual inflation at 7.9 percent in 2015, while according to the experts of the Asian Development Bank, this figure will be equal to 6 percent.
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Aynur Karimova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova
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