Azerbaijan, Baku / corr. Trend / The rise in the price of bread is inevitable in Azerbaijan. The price of bread has been kept at one level in all Azerbaijani regions so far, while the weight gradually decreased. The process firstly depends on the current rate of inflation, which exceeded the rates for January-June by 17%.
After seasonal deflation observed during the last two months, prices have risen in July and consumer prices in the country have increased concurrently, which leads to inflation.
The world grain stores decreased by 112mln tons. Azerbaijan imports grain mainly from Russia and Kazakhstan. Production of grain essentially decreased in Russia. The average price of grain in exporting countries increased by $60 or $70 per ton due to a low harvest.
The Economic Research Centre reported that the harvest in Azerbaijan in 2007 will decrease by 2mln tons. In 2004 some 2.158mln tons of grain was gathered, in 2005 - 2.126mln tons and in 2006 - 2.078mln tons.
The Government will develop different ways to keep the prices in the market on a stable level. The Azerbaijani Agriculture Ministry has already made proposals for tax privileges for grain importers, but the rise in the price of bread is inevitable if prices of consumer goods rise.
Leyla Abdullayeva is an expert at the analytical centre of Trend .