BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 1. Kazakhstan’s annual inflation reached 21.3 percent in year-over-year terms in February, Trend reports, citing the Bureau of National Statistics of Kazakhstan.
Inflation grew by 1.3 percent in February. The price of food products increased by 1.5 percent, while an increase of 1.3 percent and 0.8 percent were registered for paid services and non-food products, respectively.
The price of onions increased by 28.5 percent, tomatoes by 17 percent, cabbage by 10.9 percent and cucumbers are now 9.8 percent more expensive. On the other end of the spectrum, the price of sugar decreased by 2.3 percent, while buckwheat is 1.5 percent cheaper.
Among the non-food products, household chemistry items are the largest gainers. Laundry soap is now 2.8 percent more expensive, while the price of detergent and bleachers increased by 2.5 and 2.4 percent.
Additionally, an increase of 21.5 percent was registered for airline tickets, while railroad transportation became 2.3 percent more expensive.
In regional terms, the largest inflation (1.8 percent) was reported in the Almaty region, which exceeds the national average by 0.5 percentage points. Karaganda region was a close second with 1.7 percent, while Ulytau and Turkestan regions shared the third position with a level of inflation reaching 1.6 percent.
Inflation remains one of the key economic challenges of Kazakhstan. To combat the high level of inflation, the National Bank of Kazakhstan increased the base rate level to 16.75 percent. The latest predictions suggest that the peak of inflation will subside after 1Q2023.