On November 24, Minister of Trade and Integration Arman Shakkaliyev held a meeting on curbing inflation. Deputy Finance Minister Yerzhan Birzhanov, representatives of the State Revenue Committee, the Financial Monitoring Agency, and deputy regional akims participated in the discussion.

During the meeting, the minister noted that since the beginning of the year, food inflation for 160 key products has reached 11 percent. Meanwhile, the price index for socially important food products remains stable, remaining at a minimum of 0.1% for the first three weeks of November. Weekly monitoring, direct interaction with producers and retail chains, government oversight, and regular fairs continue to play a key role in maintaining price levels.

At the meeting, First Deputy Trade Minister Aizhan Bizhanova emphasized that, to ensure the stability of the food basket, the issue of expanding the list of socially important food products is being considered. The inclusion of additional categories of vegetables, fruits, dairy, meat, and fish products is being considered. This step will expand the limited trade margin mechanism to a wider range of goods and limit the influence of intermediaries. The new list is planned to be discussed with government agencies, the Atameken National Chamber of Entrepreneurs, associations, retail chains, and importers.

A list of the largest food importers and their suppliers by region has been determined. Negotiations are planned at the central and regional levels with the participation of interested bodies to develop consolidated solutions for price containment, enhancing the social responsibility of businesses, and increasing import transparency.

During the discussion, Minister Arman Shakkaliyev placed particular emphasis on the work of the regions. He noted that today each region receives a detailed list of key products that contribute the most to inflation and explained the principle of the new approach. The minister said that regional analytics are key to keeping the situation under control.

"We have created an algorithm that allows us to see the real picture for each product. It shows where price increases are coming from, whether it's logistics, seasonality, imports, or the balance of production and consumption." This approach allows us to respond quickly and prevent unjustified price increases. This is especially important for goods that are not directly regulated. Our goal is to ensure stability in every region and ensure that every family benefits from this work," Arman Shakkaliyev emphasized.

The continuation of fairs and large-scale events like "Bereke Fest" was also discussed. These provide the population with affordable meat, vegetables, and other socially important products. Following the example of the capital, there are plans to expand direct supplies of discounted meat.

The simplified import procedure for fruits and vegetables from Iran, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan was separately confirmed.

Source : https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/mti/press/news/details/1111751?lang=kk