OREANDA-NEWS. Belarus was there to witness a 1.3% inflation growth in March 2014, the National Statistics Committee (Belstat) said in a press-release.

Consumer prices grew 4.9% in January-March 2014.

Food prices grew 1.9% month on month in March 2014 (up 6.2% in Jan-Mar), including the price of foodstuffs - up 1.5% (up 4.7%), Belstat informed.

The price of the following food products went down month on month in March: vegetables - down 3.9% (up 7.7%).

The price of the following food products went up in March:

potatoes - up 1.6% (+17.2% in Jan-Mar 2014), pasta - up 2.3% (+6.5%), flour - up 0.9% (+4.3%), bread and bakery goods - up 0.2% (+0.9%), fruit - up 5.2% (+12.4%), confectionery goods - up 1% (+3.4%), tobaccos - up 1.3% (+19.6%), alcoholic beverages - up 2.,2% (+11.6%), fish and seafood - up 0.9% (+5.7%),cheese - up 1.8% (+9.3%), butter - up 3.4% (+9.7%), sugar - up 1.3% (+7.4%), cereals - up 1% (+4.2%), milk and dairy products - up 3% (+5.7%), meat and poultry - up 3% (+4.8%).

Non-food prices grew 0.6% on the month in March 2014 (up 1.4% in Jan-Mar).

The price of the following non-food products went down in March: furniture - down 0.1% (up 1.2%).

Prices of bicycles and motorbikes grew 1.1% on the month in March (up 1.7%), medications - up 1.2% (up 3.4%), construction materials - up 0.8% (up 2.1%), perfumes and cosmetics - up 0.7% (up 2.1%), fabrics - up 0.5% (up 1.8%), detergents - up 0.3% (up 2.1%).

Utility tariffs reduced 1.6% on the month in March 2014 (up 20.8%). Tariffs on household services grew 2.4% on the month in March 2014 (up 8%).

Passenger transportation tariffs grew 2.1% on the month in March 2014 (up 2.4%), medical services - up 3.4% (up 7.1%).

Belarus' government expects inflation growth to stay under 11% in 2014. Belarus' consumer prices grew 16.5% in 2013, while the government's forecast stood at 12%.