DUSHANBE, Tajikistan, September 20. ADB (the Asian Development Bank) expects that inflation in Tajikistan will decrease to 5.5 percent in 2023, down compared to the previous forecast of 7 percent, Trend reports.
The bank's analysts have also revised their inflation forecast for 2024. In April of this year, it was projected to be at 6.5 percent, but the new forecast sets it at 6 percent. However, the figures are still higher than inflation of 4.2 percent in 2022.
The inflation rate in the country dropped to 2.4 percent year-on-year in June 2023 from 8.3 percent year-on-year in June 2022. The average year-on-year inflation rate decreased to 3 percent from January through June 2023 from 7 percent in the first half of 2022.
Given the subdued inflation, the National Bank of Tajikistan reduced its policy rate from 13 percent to 11 percent in February 2023, and further down to 10 percent in May 2023. This move was partly aimed at stimulating investment and domestic spending.
For the year 2023, the National Bank of Tajikistan aims to maintain the inflation rate within the range of 6 percent (±2 percentage points), which aligns with the targets set in previous years.