TBILISI, July 11 (Xinhua) -- Georgia's annual inflation rose to 7.1 percent in June, the highest level since August 2011, the state statistics office said Tuesday.
Data show that in June, major drop in prices was recorded for vegetables, while major rise was for tobacco products.
Experts attributed the soaring inflation in June mainly to the central bank's unwillingness to further increase the key refinancing rate and its upbeat outlook for the inflation rate in the coming months.
The National Bank of Georgia in June announced that it will keep its key refinancing rate unchanged at 7 percent, after increasing it by 25 basis points in May.
Meanwhile, the bank also forecast the inflation rate will decline in the second half of this year and that the key rate will gradually return to its neutral level in the medium term.
Official data put Georgia's economic growth in the first five months of this year at 4.5 percent, higher than a year earlier.
