December Inflation Lowest In Seven Years - 0.9%.

The inflation rate for the year was 10.3%. Concorde Capital: This year the December CPI rate was the lowest it has been in the last seven years, and this allowed the government to only marginally exceed the two-digit level (11M CPI was 9.4%). Although CPI of 9.8% was the 2005 budget’s target, the actual inflation rate can be considered a success for the government. Until the fall we adhered to a more pessimistic scenario by estimating the end of 2005 CPI rate at 13% (in November we changed our forecast to 11.5%). Curbing inflation was one of the government’s top-priority tasks this year. Despite increased social payments and a series of price crisis (gasoline, sugar and meat), the government, combining monetary and administrative tools, managed to keep inflation from getting out of control.