Romania’s inflation rate flat at 4.1 pct on higher food prices

Romania’s annual inflation rate stood at 4.1 percent in May as food and services’ prices continue to increase at high pace. The rate registered in April and May is the highest since October 2018.

The level is slightly above expectations as analysts estimated that Romania’s inflation rate declined by 0.2 percentage point in May to 3.9 percent.

Compared with May 2018, the prices of food products rose by 5.2 percent on average, while non-food products increased by 3.3 percent. The prices of services went up by 4.3 percent, National Institute of Statistics (INS) data show.

Compared with April, consumer prices in Romania rose by 0.5 percent, as food prices increased by 0.8 percent, non-food products’ prices went up by 0.2 percent, and services’ prices rose by 0.6 percent.

The biggest price increases compared with April were recorded for potatoes (17.3 percent – the fifth month in a row of significant increase), citrus (2.7 percent), and fresh fruits (2.5 percent), while the biggest monthly price decreases were registered for eggs (2.3 percent).

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The price of fuels rose by 0.6 percent on the previous month and by 6.2 percent against end-2018.

The central bank had an inflation estimate of 4.2 percent for December 2019.

Romania was the country with the highest annual inflation rate among the European Union member states for most of last year in terms of inflation measured by Harmonised Indices of Consumer Prices (HICP), according to Eurostat.

The HICP index used by Eurostat measure price with a unified basket of consumer products and services for the 28 EU member states.

But the Romanian basket of consumer products and services, which includes a higher percentage of food products (31.9 percent of total basket), shows a different picture.