Ling predicted that under a reform program approved by parliament this month, monthly inflation would fall to 10 to 12 percent by the end of the year. The plan calls for inflation to fall to 7 to 8 percent by next June.
Ling said the government remained at odds with the International Monetary Fund over the organization's demands to reduce monthly inflation to 1 percent by the end of next year.
He said ministers forecast 5 percent monthly inflation and predicted the IMF requirement would bring much of the former Soviet republic's production to a halt.
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