The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) published a weekly macro review of the EAEU economies. In June, annual inflation in Kazakhstan amounted to 10.3%. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Sputnik Kazakhstan.
The slowdown in inflation was driven by a decrease in the growth rate of food prices: from 10.7% in May to 10.4% in June. At the same time, the growth of non-food product prices remained unchanged at 11.7%. Inflation in the services sector increased from 8.7% in May to 9.0% in June.
According to EDB experts, high interest rates continue to restrain inflationary pressure. By the end of 2026, inflation in Kazakhstan is expected to decrease to 9.7%.
In Belarus, inflation reached its lowest level since October 2023. In June, it amounted to 4.3%, compared to 4.8% in May. This was mainly due to a slowdown in food price growth: in June it dropped to 3.4% from 4.9% in May. Fruit and vegetable products became cheaper by 11.5% over the year. The EDB partially attributes this to the strengthening of the Belarusian ruble by 6.1% over the year.
The growth of non-food product prices did not change significantly and amounted to 2.1%. Inflation in the services sector rose from 8.5% to 8.8% due to high wage growth. As a result, core inflation in June decreased to 4.8%. According to experts, this indicates a steady slowdown in inflation. The EDB forecasts that by the end of 2026, inflation in Belarus will be below the threshold level of 7%.
In Russia, the federal budget deficit for January–June 2026 amounted to 5.7 trillion rubles, or 34.5 trillion tenge ($74.2 billion). A year earlier, this figure was 3.4 trillion rubles, or 20.5 trillion tenge ($44.3 billion). Despite this, the budget situation is gradually improving. The recovery of oil prices since March contributed to an increase in oil and gas revenues in the second quarter, but could not fully compensate for the low figures at the beginning of the year. As a result, oil and gas revenues decreased by 22.7% over the half-year. At the same time, non-oil and gas revenues increased by 16.3%, which is higher than the planned 8.9% in the budget. State expenditures increased by 16.1%, primarily due to a 47.4% increase in government procurement, which led to a high level of budget deficit. According to EDB experts, further growth of non-oil and gas revenues and favorable price conditions in the oil market will contribute to a reduction in the budget deficit in the second half of 2026.