Heydar Babayev: "Initial inflation forecast will not be justified in Azerbaijan in 2008"

"This is due not to the economic process in Azerbaijan but the trends in the world. We are adjusting our projections because there is a trend of speedy inflation, especially in the food market ", he noted.

Annual inflation rate was 16.7% in Azerbaijan last year.

The government raised its annual inflation outlook for 2008 to 18% from 12-13% while the IMF said inflation will not be below 20%.
The State Statistical Committee said consumer prices rose 2.3% in May, compared to a month earlier.

The top body said food prices increased 3.5%, nonfoods 1.5% and services held steady trend during May.

As opposed to the same period last year, inflation went up 19.2% during January-May, including 26% for foodstuffs, 10.2% for nonfoods and 11.4% for services. \

/APA/