Romania Annual Inflation Falls For Second Month In March

04.10.2013 By Florentina Dragu

Romania’s inflation eased for a second straight month in March thanks to a monthly dip in food and non-food prices, official data showed Wednesday.

The inflation rate slowed to 5.25% at the end of March, from 5.65% in the twelve months through February, the statistics institute INS said.

Monthly inflation was roughly unchanged, held steady by a 0.1% decline in food and non-food prices. Prices in the service sector increased 0.5% on the month in March.

Romanians paid by 9.7% less for eggs in March compared with the previous month, while edible oil prices declined 1.2%, the data showed. On the other hand, the bill for water and sewage services increased 1.9% on the month, while medical service prices were up 0.8%.

The country’s harmonized index of consumer prices, or HICP, edged up to 3.9% at the end of March, from 3.8% the month before.

Romanian central bank targets an annual inflation of 2.5% at the end of 2013, plus/minus one percentage point around the band.

Last month, the bank kept its key rate unchanged at 5.25% a year for the eight consecutive meeting to anchor inflation expectations amid a temporary increase in prices and higher volatility of capital inflows.

Central bank governor Mugur Isarescu said the annual inflation is expected to accelerate up to 6% in the first half of 2013 before easing toward the upper end of the bank’s target range.