Romania Nov CPI +0.5 On Month, Annual Inflation Eases To 7.7%

In October, the annual inflation was 7.9%, the highest rate in two years.

Food prices increased 0.9% on the month in November, while non-food and service prices were up 0.4% and 0.2%, respectively, INS data showed.

Romania’s harmonized index of consumer prices, or HICP, stood at 5.8% at the end of November, up from 5.5% the month before.

Romanian central bank recently revised up its forecast for the 2010 inflation to 8.2% from 7.8%, citing a higher-than-expected negative contribution of a 5 percentage point increase in the sales tax introduced early July.

According to estimates of the International Monetary Fund, the annual rate could peak slightly above 8% in December this year, before easing toward the central bank’s band of 3% plus/minus one percentage point in 2011.