Premium
The annual inflation rate went up to 4.7 percent in February 2018, from 4.3 percent in January 2018, amid food prices rising by 3.74 percent and non-food prices by 6.27 percent, as compared to February 2017, according to data with the National Institute of Statistics (INS) made public on Tuesday.
"The average consumer price index in the last 12 months (March 2017 - February 2018) as compared to the previous 12 months (March 2016 - February 2017), calculated on the CPI, is 2.1 percent. Determined on the basis of IAPC, the average rate is 1.6 percent," reads INS.
According to the cited source, as compared to January 2018, prices went up by 0.30 percent in February 2018, with food products being more expensive by 0.61 percent, non-food ones by 0.13 percent, and services up 0.18 percent.
Moreover, as compared to December 2017, prices went up by 1.08 percent in February 2018, with food products being more expensive by 1.25 percent, non-food ones by 1.21 percent, and services up 0.5 percent.
In February, the National Bank of Romania (BNR) revised upwards the inflation forecast for the end of this year to 3.5 percent, from 3.2 percent previously.
For the end of 2019, BNR estimates a 3.1 percent inflation rate.
According to BNR, the speeding up of the annual inflation rate in the first three quarters of 2018 is determined by those components of the consumption basket outside the field of action of the monetary policy. The dissipation of this inflation surge results in reintroducing the index within the target interval as of the last quarter of 2018.
AGERPRES .
