Annual inflation reaches highest rate in two years

Romanian consumer prices went up 0.23 percent in August after a 2.6 percent increase a month earlier, while the annual inflation accelerated to 7.58 percent, the highest rate in two years, the country’s statistics institute INS said Friday. In July, the annual rate was 7.14 percent. Analysts had estimated the monthly inflation would come in at 0.4 percent in August, while the annual rate was seen accelerating to 7.7 percent. Food and services prices each rose 0.4 percent in August from a month earlier, while non-food prices were flat on the month, INS data showed. The International Monetary Fund recently revised its target on Romanian annual inflation to 7.9 percent in 2010 from 3.5 percent previously, following the enforcement of a five-percentage-point increase in the sales tax rate to 24 percent'. Mediafax