Tuesday, February 13 2018 18:35

ArmInfo. On the consumer  market of Armenia in January of this year, inflation was fixed at  2.7%, against 2.6% in January 2017. In January 2018, by January 2017,  inflation was also 2.7%, against deflation of 0.6% in January 2017 by  January 2016.

January inflation was mostly triggered by a rise in the price of food  products (including alcohol and cigarettes) by 5.7% (against 6.7%  growth in January 2017), as well as non-food products - by 1.5%  (against lower prices for 0.6% in January 2017) and an increase in  tariffs for services - by 0.2% (against a decrease of 0.7% in January  2017). In the capital, the demand for January rose by 2.5%.

On an annual basis (January 2018 to January 2017), inflation in the  consumer market was triggered by a rise in the price of almost  equally food and non-food products - by 4% and 3.6%, respectively,  and an increase in tariffs for services by 0.6%, while a year earlier  (in January 2017 by January 2016), the increase in prices was  recorded only for foodstuffs - by 1.7%, with a reduction in the price  of non-food products by 3.5% and a decrease in tariffs for services  by 1.8%.

According to statistics, January inflation in the food market is due  mainly to a rise in price of fruits and vegetables by 10% and 34.3%,  respectively. Compared with January 2017, vegetables fell 2.1%, while  fruits rose 0.9%. In the capital, vegetables for January rose by  34.6%, and fruits - by 9.7%.

In January 2018, vegetable and fruit prices went up by 25.11%,  gasoline, diesel fuel and gas for refueling vehicles - by 11.2%, and  this group of goods, having a specific weight of 8.58% and 3.65%  accordingly, had an upward impact on the general level of consumer  prices by 2.54 percentage points.

Meat products in the annual section went up by 13.1%, but only in  January- on 2%. In the capital, meat products grew by 1.4%. Fish and  fish products have risen in price by 25.9% in annual terms, but only  in January - by 0.6%, and in the capital - by 1%. Dairy products,  cheese and eggs have risen in price by 7.1% in annual terms, but only  in January - by 0.5% (eggs for the reporting month have fallen by  0.3%). In the capital, dairy products, cheese and eggs went up 0.5%  in January. Non-alcoholic drinks, coffee, tea and cocoa rose 0.2% in  January. Vegetable and animal oil in the annual cut went up by 13.5%,  but only in January it fell 0.4%, mainly due to the decline in prices  for butter and margarine - by 1% and 0.8%, respectively.

Sugar and sugar fell by 8.1% on an annual basis, but only in January  - by 0.4%, and in the capital - by 0.6%. Bakery products and cereals  fell 0.2% in January. In January, only confectionery, alcohol and  cigarettes did not change in price.

In the non-food market, January inflation was provoked by prices for  carpets and floor coverings - by 0.1%, furniture - by 0.5%, household  appliances - by 0.7%, dishes and household goods - by 1.1%,  pharmaceutical products - by 1.3%. At the same time, footwear and  clothing fell in price in January by 4.7% and 2.7%, respectively.  Gasoline, diesel fuel and gas for refueling vehicles went up in  January by 5.4%, 16.3% and 11.8% respectively, and in the annual  section - by 28.7%, 37.3% and 10.9%. In the capital, non-food  products rose 0.8%.

The January increase in services was mainly due to higher tariffs for  housing and communal services - by 0.2%, in the transport sector - by  0.2% (due to a rise in price of 0.5% of flights on international  flights), in education - by 0 , 8%, in the sphere of culture and  recreation - by 2.1%, hotels - by 4.4%, and in the spheres of health  and communication tariffs for services have not changed. In the  capital, tariffs for services rose 0.1% in January.

Following the results of 2017 (January-December) inflation in the consumer market of Armenia was fixed at 2.6%, after two years of deflation- 1.1% in 2016 and 0.1% in 2015. This was provoked by an increase in the prices of food products (including alcohol and cigarettes) by 5.3% and non- food prices by 1.7%, while tariffs for services decreased by 0.5%. The average monthly increase in consumer prices in January-December 2017 was 0.2%, against a decline of 0.1% a year earlier. In the annual breakdown (January-December 2017 to January-December 2016), the consumer market also recorded inflation of 1% (against deflation of 1.4% a year ago), which was due to a rise in price of food products by 4% (against a 3% decline in the year earlier), with a reduction in the price of non-food products by 1.8% (against a 2.5% decline a year earlier) and a 1.3% decrease in service tariffs (against a 1.8% increase a year earlier). -nu-