BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2. Inflation is slowing down for the second month in a row on an annual basis in Kazakhstan, Trend reports via the Bureau of National Statistics of the Agency for Strategic Planning and Reforms of Kazakhstan.
According to the bureau, in April 2023, this rate stood at 16.8 percent, in March, at 18.1 percent, and in February, at 21.3 percent.
Prices for food products in Kazakhstan increased by 17.9 percent year-over-year, non-food products by 18.2 percent, and paid services by 13.7 percent.
In terms of the consumer price index (CPI), in April, this rate stood at 0.9 percent, remaining unchanged since March. In the structure of the index, prices for non-food products increased by 1.3 percent, food products by 0.9 percent, and paid services by 0.4 percent.
Among non-food products, the largest increase in prices in April was observed for diesel fuel by 16.1 percent and gasoline by 9.7 percent.
In the regions, the highest monthly inflation was registered in the regions of Abai and Ulytau, at 1.4 percent each (above the national average by 0.5 percentage points), while the lowest inflation rate was recorded in Astana, at 0.5 percent.
Meanwhile, according to the forecast of the World Bank, Kazakhstan's inflation is expected to remain high in 2023 due to elevated food prices and prices of imported intermediate goods.