Romania’s annual inflation rate continues downtrend to new low in March

Romania’s annual inflation rate reached a new low of -3% in March (when compared to March 2015) despite a 0.1% increase in prices compared to February, according to data from the National Statistics Institute (INS). The annual inflation rate has thus continued its downtrend. It stood at -2.13% in January and -2.7% in February. When compared to March 2015, the food prices dropped by 6.74% on average, the non-food products were 0.91% cheaper, and the service prices went down by 0.47%. Romania saw two VAT rate cuts in this period: the VAT rate for food dropped from 24% to 9% in June 2015, and the general VAT rate went down from 24% to 20% at the beginning of this year. The food and service prices decreased by 0.01% on average in March compared to February, but the non-food products were 0.23% more expensive. The eggs registered the biggest month-on-month decrease in prices in March, of 7.11%, followed by fresh fruits – 0.66%, and beans – 0.37%. On the other hand, the biggest price increases were registered by postal services – up by 19.84%, potatoes – 1.99%, and fuels and citrus and other southern fruits – 1.27% each. Romania’s National Bank BNR estimated an inflation rate of -3% for the end of March. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com