OREANDA-NEWS. Belarus was there to witness a 0.5% inflation growth in April 2013, the National Statistics Committee (Belstat) said in a press-release.

In January-April consumer prices have grown 5.9%, Belstat informed.

Food prices grew 0.6% in April (5.8% in Jan-Apr). The price of the following food products went down in April: meat and meat products – down 0.7% (down 0.7% since December 2012), fish and seafood – down 0.1% (up 0.7% since December 2012), butter and fat products – down 0.3% (up 0.3%), eggs – down 0.3% (up 14.4%), tea – down 0.2% (up 3.2%), confectionery goods – down 0.3% (up 1.6%).

The price of the following food products went up in April: milk and dairy products – up 0.2% (up 1.7% since December 2012), cheese – up 0.1% (up 1.8% since December 2012), salt – up 2.5% (up 7.4%), wheat flour – up 0.4% (up 6%), bread and bakery goods – up 0.2% (up 2.3%), alcoholic beverages – up 0.6% (up 14.6%), tobacco goods – up 0.4% (up 33%), potatoes – up 16.4% (up 39.3%), fruits and vegetables – up 5.2% (up 13.3%).

Non-food prices grew 0.2% on the month in April 2013 (up 2% from the level of December 2012).

The price of medications grew 1% in April 2013 (up 5.3% from the level of December 2012), footwear – up 0.2% (up 0.7%), clothes – up 0.2% (up 0.5%), fabrics – up 0.3% (up 1.5%), detergents – up 1.2% (up 3.6%), printed materials – up 1.7% (up 10.9%), television sets – down 0.3% (down 0.3%).

Utility tariffs grew 0.1% on the month in April 2013 (13% in Jan-Apr).

Tariffs on household services grew 1.9% on the month in April 2013 (up 12.6% in Jan-Mar), telecom services – up 0.3% (up 22.8%). Passenger tariffs grew 0.4% on the month (up 1.1% in Jan-Apr), medical services – up 0.6% (up 18.3%).

Belarus’ government expects inflation growth to stay under 12% in 2013. Belarus’ consumer prices grew 21.8% in 2012, while the government’s forecast stood at 19-22%.