DUSHANBE, July 20, Asia-Plus — The Ministry of Finance and the National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT) predict that this year, inflation rate in Tajikistan will have not exceeded 8 percent (In the beginning of this year, it was predicted that the inflation rate would make 7 percent).
Tajik Finance Minister Safarali Najmuddinov told journalists on July 19 that over the first six months the average inflation rate has amounted to 6.6 percent. An average monthly inflation rate in the country’s consumer sector has made 1.1 percent over the same six-month period (in January-June 2005, a monthly inflation rate in the consumer sector had made 0.68 percent), according to him. He noted that increase in the inflation rate had resulted from rising fuel prices. A spike in gasoline prices has led to increase in the prices of the transportation and basic food products in the country. “However, the inflation rate in Tajikistan is considered more moderate than in other Central Asia’s states,” Safarali Najmuddinov said, noting that the ministry of finance and the national bank intend to toughen tax and monetary policy in order to curb the inflation.
Meantime, the central bank head Murodali Alimardonov told journalists that over the past six months, service prices have risen by 14.9 percent, the prices of food products by 7.3 percent and the prices of non-food products by 0.4 percent.
According to Alimardonov, foreign factors and decrease in demand for farm produce on the domestic market have contributed to increase in the inflation rate. Next spike in the prices of oil products, natural gas and services is expected to take place in August, according to Murodali Alimardonov.
