BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, September 18. EDB (the Eurasian Development Bank) anticipates that inflation rate in Kyrgyzstan will slow down to 7.1 percent by the end of 2023, a source at the bank told Trend.
The bank's economists said that inflation in Kyrgyzstan declined to 9.5 percent year-on-year in August 2023, down from 10.3 percent year-on-year in July 2023. This reduction can be attributed to a decrease in pressure from global food markets.
The contribution of food inflation to the overall consumer price index growth declined to 3.9 percentage points in August, compared to 4.8 percentage points in July 2023.
Non-food inflation stayed at 6.3 percent, mainly because of higher taxes on tobacco products, increased import costs (due to elevated inflation in trading partner countries) and adjustments in the services sector to new price levels for components and supply materials.
However, the National Bank of Kyrgyzstan predicts that the country's inflation rate by the end of the current year will be around 10.3 percent. This high figure is expected primarily due to unfavorable climatic conditions, leading to a deficit of irrigation water in the agricultural sector. Still, it is forecasted that annual inflation will return to 5-7 percent targets rate by the end of 2025.
The National Bank previously assessed the inflation rate in the country for 2022 at 14.7 percent.