Food Prices Will Drop This Summer, National Bank Says

During a briefing on the base rate, the Governor of the National Bank, Timur Suleimenov, stated that inflation will continue to slow down during the summer months. According to him, pronounced disinflationary processes are expected in June, July, and August, driven by the traditional summer decrease in the prices of fruit and vegetable products.

On June 5, the National Bank lowered the base rate from 18% to 17% per annum, with a corridor of ±1 percentage point. This marks the first rate cut since October, a move the regulator decided on due to the deceleration of annual inflation to 10.4%.

The head of the National Bank emphasized that if the downward trend in inflation continues, the regulator stands ready to consider further easing of its monetary policy.

Statistics are already showing positive signals. At the end of May 2026, annual inflation slowed down to 10.4%, dropping by 2.5 percentage points. Furthermore, for the third consecutive week, the price index for socially significant food products remained at the zero percent mark.

Food products made the primary contribution to the slowdown of inflation in May: their cost increased by only 0.4% compared to the previous month, whereas in April, the growth stood at 0.7%.