Belarus’s inflation exceeds yearly estimates during four months

• 25.04.2011, 10:10

Belarus’s inflation rate for a period April 1 - April 19 was 2.5%, the press release of the Belarusian Committee on Statistics says. Consumer prices grew by 6.1% in the first quarter.

So, the inflation for 3 months and 20 days of 2011 was 8.75% despite the estimated early rate of 7.5-8.5%, Interfax-Zapad news agency reports.

According to the Belarusian Committee on Statistics, the biggest price increase was demonstrated by vegetable oil (15.3%), vegetables (10.6%), fruit (9.5%), tea (8.9%), light motor vehicles (9.8%).

As earlier reported, Belarus faced a price boom in imported goods in April due to an acute shortage of foreign currency.

In accordance with a forecast on social and economic development for 2011, the government expected decline in inflation to 7.5-7.8% against 9.9% in 2010, and 10.1% in 2009.

The International Monetary Fund expected Belarus’s inflation to fall to 7.3% in 2010 and forecast its growth by 12.9% in 2011. The IMF expects the inflation rate to decline to 9.7% in 2012. Earlier, IMF estimated Belarus’s inflation to reach 10.5% in 2011.