Stability still eludes former Soviet countries
Countries formerly part of the Soviet Bloc are struggling to curb inflationary pressures in their fledgling economies according to recent figures. Figures for January – September, 2001 from the Statistics Committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) suggest that inflation is rampant in Belarus and uncomfortably high in Russia while some areas, such as the Baltic countries, have managed to achieve some stability.
In Belarus prices rose by 27.9%. Prices for foodstuffs went up by 26.1%, non-food goods by 20.2% and services by 51.0%. In Russia the rate of inflation was also high, with foodstuffs becoming 12.3% more expensive, while prices for non-food goods went up by 9.1% and services by 30.6%.
Central Asian republics such as Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan revealed a mixed picture, with inflation at 6.9%, 3.8% and 1.5% respectively. Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan experienced deflation with prices falling by 0.1%, 0.8% and 0.4%. Information was not available for Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Among the Baltic countries, Estonia achieved the lowest inflation rate, while Lithuania registered a 0.3% inflation rate for October – higher than expected by analysts who predicted no rise. There were unexpected increases for shoe and textile garments, where price rose by 1.1%.
