Azerbaijan central bank cites external factors and demand as main inflation drivers

Inflation in Azerbaijan continues to be driven mainly by external factors and rising costs, central bank Governor Taleh Kazimov said.

Weighted average inflation in Azerbaijan’s trading partners stood at 7.7% at the end of March and added 2.84 percentage points to domestic inflation, he said.

A 3.8% rise in agricultural producer prices contributed a further 1.6 percentage points.

Stronger consumer demand also added to price pressures. Government consumption rose by 5.3% and household consumption by 7.4%, together adding more than 3 percentage points to inflation.

Other factors reduced inflation by 0.67 percentage points, Kazimov said.

N.Tebrizli