Analysts at the Eurasian Development Bank expect inflation in Belarus this year to remain close to the target level of 7%. In a weekly review of the economies of the bank’s member states, they confirmed their previously issued forecast.
Last week, Belstat published inflation data for January. The annual rate slowed from 6.8% to 6.4%.
“Food inflation slowed to 8.6% year on year (after 9% year on year in December), driven by a further deceleration in price growth for seasonal vegetables and fruit — to 3.7% year on year from 4.9% year on year. Prices for non-food goods rose by 2.5% year on year (after 3% year on year a month earlier), against the backdrop of an appreciation of the exchange rate.
In the services sector, inflation accelerated to 8.2% year on year from 8% year on year in December. The postponement of the scheduled increase in housing and utilities tariffs from January to March limited price growth in services. Core inflation returned to a decelerating trajectory — to 6.9% year on year after 7.3% year on year,” the EDB review said.
