The Department of Statistics of the Ministry of Economic Development of Georgia reported that the consumer price index (CPI) for January 2008 rose to 2.5% from 0.3% in December 2007.
The end-of-period CPI for the twelve months ended 31 January 2008 decreased to 10.7% from 11% at the end of the previous month. The annual periodaverage CPI in January 2008 rose to 9.3% from 9.2% at the end of the previous month.
Strong growth of food and energy prices, nominal wages and monetary aggregates were the main drivers of inflation in January, according to the National Bank of Georgia.
“We applaud the decision made yesterday by the monetary policy committee of the National Bank of Georgia to raise its main policy rate by a 100 basis points to annual 11 percent – the third consecutive raise since November 2007. Such determination of the National Bank, combined with reasonable government spending, gives us cause for optimism, although the inflationary pressure remains high”, commented Nika Gilauri, Minister of Finance.
Discussion about this post