Prices of foodstuffs go up 11%

"There exists exact registration of the construction. During the nine months construction works of 800 000 sq m were carried out in Azerbaijan," State Statistical Committee chairman Arif Valiyev said, APA reports.

The statistics also includes new schools, hospitals and other buildings besides residential buildings.

He insisted that the construction grew 10%, year-over-year, during this period of 2006.
He also said claims that inflation rate will be two-digit this year is baseless. The prices of foodstuffs went up only 11% during the period of January-October. Prices of the building materials also increased. Prices of fruits and vegetables didn't rise so much.

"Take note of the increase of prices, we can say the inflation rate stood at 7.7% in ten-month period," he insisted.

He said the Government continues to take measures against this process and agricultural goods fairs are held twice a week. "The price of three kilos of potatoes is 20 kopecks in Gadabey while it is 40 kopecks in Baku. That's why it is not correct to assess the inflation rate according to the market prices in Baku," he said.

He also said that the incomes of people are growing rapidly and the poverty line is going down. "The poverty line has dropped in Azerbaijan in past nine months. It is expected that the poverty rate will fall by 10% in 2006. The poverty rate will stand at 20% in 2006," he underscored.