Annual inflation in the European Union fell sharply in September to 4.9%, from 5.9% in August, while it eased slightly in Romania from 9.3% to 9.2%, Eurostat data showed on Wednesday.
In September, the EU member states with the highest inflation rates were Hungary (12.2%) and Romania (9.2%). At the opposite pole, the EU member states with the lowest annual inflation rates were the Netherlands (with negative annual inflation minus 0.3%), Denmark (0.6%) and Belgium (0.7%), according to agerpress.
Compared to August 2023, the annual inflation rate decreased in 21 member states, including Romania, remained stable in one country and increased in five countries.
Eurostat data also show that annual inflation in the euro area fell from 5.2% in August to 4.3% in September. Eurostat said core inflation, which is what remains after removing the prices of variable goods such as energy and food, fell to 4.5% from 5.3%. Another measure, which in addition to energy and food prices also excludes cigarette and alcohol prices, also fell to 8.8%, from 9.7% in August. Core inflation is an indicator closely followed by the ECB when developing its decisions on monetary policy.
In the case of Romania, the National Institute of Statistics (INS) earlier reported that the annual inflation rate fell to 8.8% in September, from 9.4% in August, as product prices rose by 10.36%, non-product by 6.68 % and Services by 12.10%.
The annual rate of inflation in September 2023 compared to September 2022, calculated on the basis of the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), is 9.2%.
The National Bank of Romania signaled at the beginning of October that, according to current estimates, the annual inflation rate will continue to decrease until the end of the current year according to the latest medium-term forecast (August 2023), mainly influenced by the impact of the basic price and downward corrections of quotations of some goods, as well as in conditions of abundant domestic harvest and temporary restriction of commercial addition to staple food products.
In August, the BNR revised upward, to 7.5%, the inflation forecast for the end of this year and to 4.4% for the end of 2024.
Source: Hot News
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