The Kazakh government is strengthening oversight of food price dynamics and has instructed a comprehensive review of the national food basket, Zakon.kz reports. The directive was issued by First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Economy Serik Zhumanagarin during a meeting on inflation stabilization.
According to the Ministry of Trade and Integration, socially significant food products rose by an average of 0.1% in the first two weeks of November. At the same time, some vegetables continued to fall in price: carrots (–1.7%), cabbage (–1.8%), and onions (–0.4%). Conversely, potato prices increased by 0.2% in the past week and 2.2% since the beginning of the month, reaching an average of 188 tenge per kilogram.
First Vice Minister of Trade Aizhan Bizhanova explained that the rise is linked to increased exports following the opening of new supply channels. Over two months, Kazakhstan has already shipped 300,000 tonnes of potatoes abroad, with contracts for an additional 200,000 tonnes. The country is approaching a safe export threshold of 500,000 tonnes.
Zhumanagarin also instructed the ministry to submit the issue of ensuring domestic potato reserves to the Interdepartmental Commission on Foreign Policy.
In addition, the government plans to improve traceability, eliminate unnecessary intermediaries, and ensure transparent pricing to help curb further price growth.
Source: www.zakon.kz
