BRATISLAVA, March 12, (WEBNOVINY) – The growth dynamics of consumer prices continued to slow on an annualized basis over February. Consumer prices measured by national methodology increased 3.8 percent from a year earlier, the Statistics Office of the Slovak Republic reported. For comparison, consumer price growth reached 3.9 percent in January 2012 and 4.4 percent in December 2012.
Statisticians reported the steepest price increase in transport (+8.1 percent), followed by education (+5.7 percent) and housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (+5.5 percent). Cost of postal and telecommunications services fell by 0.2 percent. Prices of alcoholic beverages and tobacco came up by 5.3 percent and prices of miscellaneous goods and services by 4.6 percent. Health sector posted a 3.5 percent price increase while customers paid 3.3 percent more at hotels, cafes and restaurants. Food and soft drink prices grew 2.6 percent. Consumer prices went up by 3.9 percent y/y over the first two months of this year.
In monthly terms consumer prices grew 0.2 percent in February owing to a 0.8-percent growth in transport cost. Prices of alcoholic beverages and tobacco upped 0.6 percent. The statistics authority reported an identical price increase by 0.4 percent at hotels, cafes and restaurants and in miscellaneous goods and services. Health cost came up by 0.3 percent m/m and prices of food and soft drinks, housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels ticked up 0.2 percent. Prices of clothing and footwear dropped 1 percent while cost of postal and telecommunications services stagnated at January’s level.
Annual core inflation, which monitors consumer prices excluding regulated prices and administrative interventions in the field of taxation, fell from January’s 2.6 percent to 2.4 percent. Net inflation, which unlike core inflation does not reflect developments in food prices, stagnated at 2.6 percent. On a monthly basis, core inflation in the second month of 2012 was 0.2 percent, and net inflation, too, reached 0.2 percent.
Consumer price growth in Slovakia averaged 3.9 percent last year, in accordance with the Finance Ministry’s projections. Prices of transport, energy supplies, food and education soared the most. The ministry expects the price growth to slow to 2.8 percent this year.
SITA
