INS: Romania's Inflation Hits 32-Month High In April At 8.34%

05.10.2011 By Florentina Dragu

Romanian consumer prices rose 0.66% in April from a month earlier, while the annual inflation accelerated to 8.34%, the highest level since July 2008, the country’s statistics institute INS said Tuesday.

In March, the annual inflation came in at 8.01%.

Analysts estimated a monthly inflation of 0.6% in April, while the annual rate was predicted at 8.2%.

Food and non-food prices each increased by 0.9% on the month in April, the data showed. Prices in the services sector nudged down 0.4% compared with the previous month.

Romanians paid by 7.7% more for fresh fruit in April compared with a month earlier, while the cost of potatoes increased by 4.5%. In the non-food sector, electricity prices went up by 5% on the month, while cigarettes and tobacco were by 1.2% more expensive, the data showed.

Romania's harmonized index of consumer prices, or HICP, rose to 7.2% at the end of March, from 6.8% the month before.

The central bank targets an annual inflation of 3% at the end of 2011, plus/minus one percentage point around the band. The bank recently revised upward its forecast on the year-end inflation to 5.1% from 3.6%, citing upside pressure from global surging prices for energy and food items.