TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, November 4. Uzbekistan’s inflation rate for October 2023 stood at 1.04 percent, marking the lowest monthly result in the past 7 years, Trend reports.
The annual inflation rate dropped below 9 percent, despite the recent increase in energy tariffs in Uzbekistan.
As per Uzbekistan’s State Statistics Committee, food products saw an average price increase of 1.3 percent, non-food products by 1 percent, and services by 0.7 percent over the past month.
Moreover, from January through September 2023, food products rose by 10.9 percent, marking the lowest increase in the past five years (compared to 15.9 percent in the previous year), non-food products increased by 7.7 percent (denoting a minimum compared to 10.7 percent in 2022), and services increased by 7.5 percent, which remained stable at the previous year's level.
According to the agency’s analysis, despite the recent rise in electricity, gas, and other fuel prices starting on October 1, this increase was not reflected in the official statistics.
The agency analysts noted that Uzbekistan's overall achievement of a 1.04 percent inflation rate in October 2023 represents an economic milestone and a positive trend for the country's economic stability.
The inflation rate in October from 2016 through 2022 amounts to the following:
2016 - 1.4 percent
2017 - 1.2 percent
2018 - 1.3 percent
2019 - 1.54 percent
2020 - 1.44 percent
2021 - 1.31 percent
2022 - 1.24 percent
Meanwhile, Uzbekistan’s Central Bank has decided to keep the main rate at 14 percent to provide the necessary monetary conditions for the formation of inflation within the forecast indicators by the end of 2023.
“The Central Bank assesses the impact of monetary conditions on aggregate demand, prices, and inflation expectations and seeks to orient all monetary instruments to ensure the formation of inflation within the current year's forecast and achieve the target in the medium term," the bank's statement emphasizes.