“I think there are high chances that the inflation target for 2009 to be attained,” Isarescu said in a press conference.
In 2007 and 2008, Romania’s inflation rate was higher than the central bank’s target.
In January, Romanian consumer price index rose by a higher than expected 1.24%, compared with the previous month, and the annual inflation widened to 6.71%, from 6.3% end-December, according to the National Statistics Institute data.
The annual inflation rate was 6.3% at the end of 2008, down compared to 6.57% in December 2007, but 1.5 percentage points above the upper limit of the variation band.
Last year, the central bank’s target interval was at 2.8-4.8%, while the target for 2007 was at 3%-5%.