details added (first version posted at 17:27)
Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 21
By Anvar Mammadov - Trend:
The state-regulated medication prices will be reconsidered according to the new rate of the manat to the US dollar, the Azerbaijani Tariff Council told Trend Dec. 21.
"The medication prices are formed on the basis of prices in ten basic countries - Turkey, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria and Slovenia," the council said. "The medication is purchased in foreign currency, so there is a need to revise the prices."
In general, up till now the Tariff Council approved the prices on 3,540 medications. Some 2,282 of these medications are being sold according to the approved prices. The prices on the remaining 1,258 medications came into force on December 21, 2015.
The prices on 46 percent of medications with regulated prices reduced by more than twofold, while on 24 percent of medications - more than threefold compared to the current prices. In general, the prices on 95 percent of all medications with regulated prices reduced.
According to the relevant decision of the Tariff Council, the medications with the specified mixture, the prices of which will not be confirmed by this date, can be sold only after the confirmation of the prices.
The regulation of prices on the main medications will be completed by late 2015.
The Central Bank of Azerbaijan switched to the floating rate of the national currency (manat) from Dec.21, 2015.
As a result, the exchange rate of the US dollar and euro to manat rose by 47.6 percent and 47.9 percent and stood at 1.55 manats and 1.685 manats, respectively.