BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 9
Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
Georgia's Annual Consumer Price Index (CPI) gained further momentum in July and stood at 11.9 percent in Georgia, well above the market expectations, Trend reports via TBC Capital.
Prices rose in almost all main expenditure groups with notable increases in food, transport and utility bill prices.
The annual inflation rate was mainly influenced by price changes for the following groups:
- Food and non-alcoholic beverages: the prices in the group increased by 14.1 percent, contributing 4.43 percentage points to the overall annual inflation rate. Within the group the prices increased for the following subgroups: oils and fats (48 percent), vegetables (35.4 percent), sugar, jam, honey, chocolate and confectionery (18.1 percent), milk, cheese and eggs (15.4 percent), bread and cereals (12.4 percent), fish (11.5 percent), mineral waters, soft drinks, fruit and vegetable juices (10.4 percent), meat (5.3 percent), coffee, tea and cocoa (4.7 percent);
- Transport: the prices increased by 22.5 percent, contributing 2.65 percentage points to the annual inflation rate. Within the group the prices increased for operation of personal transport equipment (33.2 percent), transport services (3.8 percent) and purchase of vehicles (1.7 percent);
- Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels: the prices for the group posted an 11.1 percent increase, which contributed 1.65 percentage points to the annual inflation rate. In the same period, prices were lower for actual rentals for housing (-3.8 percent);
- Health: the prices went up by 11.4 percent, contributing 0.89 percentage points to the overall annual inflation rate. The prices increased for medical products, appliances and equipment (19.8 percent), hospital services (5.3 percent) and out-patient services (3.8 percent).
As reported, an increase in utility bills had an upward impact on annual inflation contributing by 1.65 percentage points.
At the same time, the monthly CPI came in at 1.3 percent in July, well above the last 20 years July figures with overall monthly seasonally-adjusted annualized inflation at 28.5 percent.
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