Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 15
By Rashid Shirinov – Trend:
Inflation in Kazakhstan in 2018, as the National Bank of Kazakhstan expected, remained within the target range of 5-7 percent, Trend reports referring to the Kazakh media.
Chairman of the National Bank Daniyar Akishev said that in the last three months of 2018, inflation remained unchanged at 5.3 percent. He noted that the slowdown in inflation compared to 2017 was recorded for all groups of consumer goods and services.
"The dynamics of core inflation testifies the preservation of the inflationary background in the consumer market. Its level, calculated without considering the most volatile prices and regulated components, showed an acceleration in 2018 from 6.2 to 6.7 percent," the head of the National Bank said.
Akishev also noted that the growth of real incomes of the population for 11 months of 2018 amounted to 4.4 percent.
"The expansion of domestic demand in 2019 will be facilitated by an increase in minimum wages and a reduction in the tax burden for low-paid workers," he said.
This year, the National Bank expects inflation to remain within the new, lower range of 4-6 percent.
"At the same time, current estimates show that its level will be in the upper half of the range, between 5 and 6 percent, at the end of the year," Akishev added.
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