WB experts predict Tajikistan’s inflation to stand at 10 percent this year

The World Bank’s Tajikistan Macro Poverty Outlook – Spring 2020 says poverty reduction prospects will be undermined by the increase in food prices and the fall in growth rate and remittances. 

After subsiding to 5.4 percent in 2018, 12- month consumer price inflation reportedly surged to 8 percent in 2019, close to the upper range of the NBT’s target band of 5–9 percent.

The report notes that the main drivers of consumer price inflation in 2019 were rising food prices, currency-depreciation pass-through effects, and the 15-percent electricity tariff increase.

According to the data from the Agency for Statistics under the President of Tajikistan, Tajikistan’s inflation rate for the first three months of this year has stood at 2.6 percent.  The cost of products of the food industry in January-March reportedly increased by 4.1 percent.  

Meanwhile, the government plans to curb inflation rate this year at 7.0 percent.