December 21, 2007 (LPAC)--LaRouche's Forecast of world-wide Weimar like hyperinflation is becoming more and more statistically noticeable, as is recently evident in both the Indian Prime Minister's hunger concerns and the report by Gazeta newspaper of Kazakhstan, which says that food prices are spiraling upward in most Central Asian nations. 

In many Central Asian and Caucasus states, the inflation rate has hit double digits. In Kyrgyzstan, for example, it reached 20.1 percent during the January-October period in 2007, the National Statistics Committee announced. Although Uzbekistan denies it, the IMF claims Uzbekistan's inflation rate is now 12.2 per cent. In Kazakhstan, inflation was 13.4 percent for the first 10 months of 2007, according to the State Statistics Agency.

The story is similar in the Caucasus. In Georgia, the country's statistics agency reported inflation at 11.2 percent. It was roughly the same in Azerbaijan -- 11 percent.

Both Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan rely on wheat imports from Kazakhstan, which has lately found it more lucrative to export surpluses to China and India. Reports from Tajikistan, where inflation is running at 14.9 percent, say the price of a 50 kilogram bag of flour has risen by 20 percent over the last year.

In Uzbekistan, which is scheduled to hold a presidential election on December 23, regional media outlets have reported that the price of flour has skyrocketed in recent months, rising between 10 percent and 37 percent depending on quality. Scattered small-scale protests and panic buying have been reported throughout the region. News of panic buying were reported from both Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.