Consumer price index rises 3.29% in H1

The official said that in June alone, CPI rose 0.27% over that of May and 2% over the same period last year, mostly due to an increase in the electricity retail prices. In the month, rise was seen in the prices of 10 groups of goods, led by food and catering services at 0.57%. Only post and telecommunications saw a decrease in prices, she said Thursday.

In the second quarter of this year, CPI was up 2.41% year on year, with a strong rise in prices of construction materials at 6.03% and education at 5.81%. In the period, the fall was recorded in prices of two groups – post and telecommunications (0.47%) and transport (8.34%).

In the first half of 2023, education-related prices rose 7.95% year on year, while the prices of housing and construction materials also increased 6.6%.

Upturn was also seen in the prices of cultural, entertainment and tourism services at 3.47% due to high demands after the COVID-19 pandemic was controlled, along with prices of food and foodstuff at 3.6% due to an increase in demands during the festive season in the beginning of the year. The 3% increase in electricity prices from May 4 also pushed the prices of the product in the people's daily life consumption by 3.12%, contributing 0.1 percentage point to the CPI rise in the first six months of this year.

Meanwhile, factors contributing to the slowing down of the CPI rise in the January-June period was a fall in the prices of fuels and post and telecommunication services.

According to the GSO, core inflation in June increase 0.24% over May and 4.33% compared to the same period last year, pushing the inflation rate in the first six months of this year to 4.74%.