Azerbaijan lowers price of flour after currency slide

The plunge in world oil prices has exerted huge pressure on the public finances of currencies in ex-Soviet oil exporters, including Azerbaijan, raising the risk of social unrest.

The economy ministry said in a statement it was waiving value added tax on the import of wheat and the production and sale of flour and bread from Jan. 15.

It said that would allow a reduction in the wholesale price for flour, and listed the prices at which bread should now be sold.

"Anyone who sells flour and bread at higher prices will be held to account in the most serious way," the statement said.

"This decision has been taken on the instructions of President Ilham Aliyev to strengthen the social protection of the population, in particular poor families, from the change in the rate of the manat."

 

(Reuters)