Kazakhstan has been maintaining a dubious leadership among the "Eurasian Five" countries in terms of inflation growth for the second year in a row. Today, the average price growth in our country reached 8.7%, while in Russia, which is surrounded by economic sanctions from all sides, inflation only reached 7.8%.
Meanwhile, Belarus and Kyrgyzstan have been keeping inflation below 6% for a long time (5.6% and 5.2% respectively). And Armenia even experienced a yearly price decrease of 0.7%.
According to a report by the Eurasian Economic Commission, the fastest rising products in Kazakhstan include fish and seafood (price increase of +17% in a year), eggs (+14.4%), apples (+19%), carrots (+20%), and cabbage (+25.3%), as well as meat, dairy products, cereals, bakery and confectionery products.
It is worth noting two important points for fairness. Some products have become cheaper. Vegetable oils and buckwheat decreased in price by 25%. Cucumbers became 17% cheaper, and onions halved in price. In Russia, chicken eggs increased by 50%, beets by 21%, and in Kyrgyzstan, apples increased by 62%. At the same time, in Kyrgyzstan, air transport prices decreased by 10%, and in Armenia, liquefied gas became a quarter cheaper.
Services on average became 13% more expensive, with the highest price increases observed in: utility payments (25.2%), water supply and sewage (36.9%), heating (33.5%), and electricity (29%).
At the same time, the National Bank of Kazakhstan believes that the annual inflation rate of 8.7% is in line with the forecast trajectory.
"Against the backdrop of a favorable situation with external food prices, there is a noticeable decrease in the food component of inflation. Non-food inflation is also slowing down despite stable demand and accelerated consumer lending," according to a press release from the NBRK.
Furthermore, the inflation forecast by the NBRK for 2024 remains in the range of 7.5-9.5%, and for 2025 within 5.5-7.5%.
"In 2026, as fiscal stimulus decreases and moderately tight monetary conditions fully manifest, inflation will approach the target of 5% and settle in the range of 5-6%," stated the NBRK press release.
It is important to mention that today, the Committee on Monetary Policy of the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan decided to reduce the base rate by 25 basis points to 14.50% per annum.
