Azerbaijan, Baku / Trend , corr. I. Khalilova / Arif Valiyev, the Chairman of the State Statistics Committee, has said that an expert group of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is expected to visit Baku in the second half of 2007 in order to appraise the activity of the State Statistics Committee of Azerbaijan on calculation of the index on consumer prices. "We have requested IMF to render its technical aid in this direction, however, on the whole, at calculating the inflation, we apply the methodology of the Fund," noted Mr. Valiyev.
As Vitaly Kramarenko, the Deputy of the Director of the IMF Department for Middle Asia and Central Asia (MCD), said during his February's visit to Baku, the Azerbaijani Government had requested an IMF technical aid for the State Statistics Committee in two directions.
The forthcoming expert aid will be intended for in detail appraising the ways of calculation of the index of consumer prices in Azerbaijan, as well as completing the work on the Country's joining the IMF special data distributing standards. "If Azerbaijan observes all these standards, then it will improve its international image. Joining the standards usually promotes the improvement of the system of attracting external (foreign) borrowings from enterprises," admitted Mr. Kramarenko.
During that visit, the IMF experts got acquainted with ways of calculation of the index of consumer prices due to the recent rise in prices on energy carriers and tariffs son public utilities, however did not make any particular rebukes.
The Head of the State Statistics Committee expects the fall in the inflation growth by summer, 2007. Notably, in February, 2007, the growth of the index of consumer prices was at the rate of 1.5 to January, 2007, in January, 2007 - February, 2007 - 8 percent to December, 2006. As to the first 10 days of March, 2007, the inflation growth reached 0.7 percent.