Social products are becoming cheaper in Kazakhstan

The situation with prices for socially significant food products was discussed at a government meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Serik Zhumangarin on Saturday, June 22, Liter.kz reports with reference to press service Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Prices for a group of ten goods continue to decline: buckwheat – by 0.9%, sunflower oil – by 0.5%, cabbage – by 0.4%, beef, salt and sugar – by 0.3%, rice – by 0.2%, horns, cottage cheese and flour – by 0.1%.

According to First Vice Minister of Trade and Integration Aizhan Bizhanova, prices decreased in eight regions, the most significant decrease was recorded in the Ulytau region (0.8%), Aktobe (0.6%) and Atyrau (0.5%) regions. Overall, for the week the average price index for social food products decreased by 0.1%, which was recorded for the fourth week in a row. Over the month, the dynamics amounted to 0.3%.

Vice Minister of Agriculture Erbol Taszhurekov reported on the progress of early harvest contracting in the regions. Three megacities – Astana, Almaty and Shymkent – began to enter into direct contracts with agricultural producers from seven regions of the country for the supply of vegetables at stable prices in the off-season.

“Astana has already concluded forward contracts for 15 thousand tons of vegetables: potatoes, onions, cabbage and carrots. Shymkent – by 7.5 thousand tons, Almaty – by 16 thousand tons. Deliveries are planned for June – July and September – April. Additional forward contracts will also be concluded for the supply of the autumn harvest,” the vice minister informed.

Erbol Taszhurekov also emphasized that the regions need to comply with the terms and conditions of financing specified in the rules for implementing mechanisms for stabilizing prices for socially important food products, including the requirement to allocate 70% of financing to agricultural producers and processing enterprises.