Headline inflation in Romania stays at 2.1% at end-2020

The annual inflation rate stayed at 2.1% year-on-year in December last year, according to data published by the National Statistics Institute (INS).

Food prices rose by 3.24%, service fees by 2.69%, and the prices of non-food goods by 1.01%.

The annual inflation rate calculated based on the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) basket was 1.8%.

Meanwhile, the average rate of consumer prices in the last 12 months compared to the previous 12 months, calculated based on the national consumer goods basket, was 2.6% at the end of December. Under HICP, the average rate was 2.3%.

Romania's National Bank (BNR) estimated an inflation rate of 2.1% at the end of 2020 and 2% in the third quarter of 2022, according to the latest Inflation Report.

"Following the publication of the August 2020 Report, there were some more significant disinflationary pressures induced mainly by exogenous components of the consumer basket, in the segment of volatile food and fuel prices, respectively. Under these circumstances, the annual inflation rate is expected to fall to 2.1% by the end of this year, a significant revision of 0.6 percentage points from the previous forecast," the Inflation report reads.

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