Food prices in September inched down 0.2% from the previous month, while non-food and service prices were up 0.8% and 0.5% on the month, respectively.
Cigarettes and tobacco prices rose 5.8% on the month in September, the highest increase in the non-food sector. In the services sector, utility prices posted the highest increase, of 1.6% on the month.
The harmonized index of consumer prices, or HICP, stood at 6.2% at the end of September, from 6.4% the month before.
In August, Romanian consumer prices fell 0.19% on the month, driven by lower food prices, registering the second consecutive monthly decline in 2009.
Compared with the end of 2008, Romania’s consumer price index was up 3.27% in September.
In the January-September period, service prices rose 5.98%, non-food prices increased by 5.47%, while food prices fell 0.52%.
Early August, Romania’s central bank revised its forecast on the 2009 annual inflation rate to 4.3%, from 4.4% previously estimated.