Prima pagină » English » Romania’s February Inflation At 7.6%, Above Estimates

Romania’s February Inflation At 7.6%, Above Estimates

Romanian consumer prices rose 0.77% in February from a month earlier, while the annual inflation accelerated to an unexpected 7.6%, the country’s statistics institute INS said Thursday.
Romania’s February Inflation At 7.6%, Above Estimates
Oana Gavrila
10 mart. 2011, 10:19, English

In January, the annual inflation had eased to 6.99% from a record high of 7.96% in the previous month.

Analysts estimated a monthly inflation of 0.5% in February, while the annual rate was predicted at 7.3%.

Food prices increased 1.8% on the month in February, while non-food prices were up 0.3%, the data showed. Prices in the services sector remained unchanged compared with the previous month.

Romanians paid by around 8% more for fresh and canned vegetables in February compared with a month earlier, while the cost of bread and bakery products increased by 2%. In the non-food sector, cigarettes and tobacco prices went up by 1.4% on the month, the data showed.

Romania’s harmonized index of consumer prices, or HICP, rose to 6.5% at the end of February, from 6.2% the month before.

The central bank targets an annual inflation of 3% at the end of 2011, plus/minus one percentage point around the band. The bank has recently revised upward its forecast on the annual rate to 3.6% in December, from 3.4% previously.