ASTANA – The inflation rate in December 2017 reached 0.7 percent compared to the previous month and 7.1 percent compared to the same period last year, according to the Statistics Committee of the Kazakh Ministry of National Economy.
In the previous month, food prices rose 1.1 percent, non-food products grew 0.5 percent and prices for paid services increased 0.3 percent. As of Jan. 1, food prices rose 6.5 percent, non-food products – 8.9 percent and paid services rose 5.9 percent over the past year.
“One of the important trends of the past year was the slowdown of inflationary processes. Throughout the year, inflation was within the target corridor of the National Bank of 6-8 percent and, as a whole, showed a downward trend. As a result of November, the consumer price growth index was 7.3 percent, which is lower compared to the end of last year – 8.5 percent,” National Bank Chair Daniyar Akishev noted, kapital.kz reports.
During the previous year, prices for confectionery rose 10.7 percent, horsemeat and fresh fish prices grew 9.8 and 9.4 percent respectively. Meanwhile, prices for sugar dropped 19.5 percent, as sunflower oil price decreased 9.9 percent.
“The increase in prices for stationery stood at 10 percent, vehicle prices rose 9.2 percent, books, clothing and footwear – 8 percent, textiles – 7 percent, pharmaceutical products – 6.6 percent, newspapers and magazines – 6.5 percent, furniture and household goods – 5.8 percent and prices for home appliances grew 5.5 percent,” said the report.
Diesel fuel prices went up 31.8 percent, gasoline 17.6 percent, coal 17.4 percent and liquefied gas in cylinders 8.6 percent. The prices for healthcare services rose 7.9 percent, legal services – 7 percent, and prices for entertainment and culture programmes increased 6.9 percent.
“In the sphere of housing and communal services, gas tariffs for gas transported through distribution networks increased 11.4 percent, hot water 10.9 percent, central heating 9.9 percent, sewerage 9.1 percent, housing maintenance 7 percent, cold water 5.1 percent and electricity cost grew 5 percent,” it noted.
