The lowest level of inflation for three years is, however, the only bright point in an economy that has slid downhill since independence more than two and a half years ago and whose reforms lag far behind those in Russia.
Industrial output declined 36 percent in the first six months of 1994 compared with the same period last year.
The former Soviet republic has yet to introduce a full-fledged currency and has run up a foreign debt of $4.3 billion, mostly to Russia for oil and gas.
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