OREANDA-NEWS. Belarus was there to witness a 1.1% inflation growth in March 2013, the National Statistics Committee (Belstat) said in a press-release.

In January-March consumer prices have grown 5.4%, Belstat informed.

Food prices grew 0.6% in March (5.2% in Jan-Mar). The price of the following food products went down in March: meat and meat products – down 0.04% (unchanged since December 2012), fish and seafood - down 0.03% (up 0.8% since December), butter and fat products – down 0.01% (up 0.6%), fruits and vegetables - down 1.2% (up 7.8%).

The price of the following food products went up in March: cheese – up 0.3% (up 1.7% since December 2012), tea – up 2.2% (up 3.4%), salt - up 2.6% (up 4.7%), wheat flour – up 1% (up 5.6%), alcoholic beverages – up 2.8% (up 13.9%), tobacco goods – up 0.8% (up 32.5%), potatoes – up 4.3% (up 19.7%).

Non-food prices grew 0.4% on the month in March 2013 (up 1.8% from the level of December 2012).

The price of medications grew 1.2% in March 2013 (up 4.2% from the level of December 2012), footwear – up 1.3% (up 0.4%), clothes – up 0.4% (up 0.3%), fabrics – up 0.4% (up 1.2%), detergents – up 1% (up 2.4%), printed materials – up 1.1% (up 9%).

According to Belstat, the following non-food prices reduced in March: furniture – down 0.3% (up 1.3% in Jan-Mar), television sets – down 0.6% (down 0.6%), passenger cars – 0.01% (up 2.4%).

Utility tariffs grew 7% on the month in March 2013 (13.1% in Jan-Mar), including electricity tariffs – up 22.4% (up 34%).

Tariffs on household services grew 2.6% on the month in March 2013 (up 10.5% in Jan-Mar), telecom services – down 0.1% (up 22.5%). Passenger tariffs reduced 0.1% on the month (up 0.7% in Jan-Mar).

Belarus’ government expected 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%.