Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 4
By Nigar Guliyeva – Trend:
Consumer prices for goods and services in December 2017 increased by an average of 2.7 percent in Uzbekistan, the Uzbek Statistics Committee reported.
The main inflation factor in December 2017 was the rise in prices for food products (the share of influence is 70.2 percent).
The price for food products in December 2017 increased on average by 4.4 percent, which ensured a general increase in the consumer price index (CPI) by 1.9 percentage points. In December 2016, food prices went up by 2 percent.
The prices for non-food products rose 1.8 percent for the month, which led to an increase in the CPI by another 0.6 percentage points.
In December 2016, the growth in prices for non-food products was 0.8 percent.
The paid services for the population became expensive in December, by 0.8 percent. This led to an increase in the composite CPI by 0.2 percentage points. In December 2016, tariffs for services increased by 0.3 percent.
The main inflation factors in paid services sector were increases in tariffs for legal services and banking services (by 15 percent), household services (by 1.6 percent), education services (by 1.2 percent) and health services (by 1.1 percent).
The Central Bank of Uzbekistan predicts a high inflation level of 11.5-13.5 percent in 2018, with the rate of economic growth at about 6 percent.