BRATISLAVA, July 14, (WEBNOVINY) – The price increase in Slovakia slackened off in June also according to the EU methodology. As the Statistics Office of the Slovak Republic reported, harmonized inflation reached 4.1 percent in the sixth month of this year, which was a 0.1-percentage point slowdown from May. The average annual inflation rate, however, grew from 2.1 percent in May to 2.4 percent. Consumer prices measured by the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (EU HICP) ticked down 0.1 percent in monthly terms.
In a monthly comparison, the Statistics Office found that prices mostly stagnated. The decrease of total prices is attributable to a 0.5-percent m/m decline in prices of food and soft drinks. Prices of transport were 0.2 percent lower. On the other hand, the cost of education went up by 1.4 percent and prices of miscellaneous goods and services by 0.2 percent.
At the end of last year, year-on-year harmonized inflation reached 1.3 percent, while in the previous year, prices measured by the harmonized index stagnated due to weakened demand. This year, inflation is expected to gradually accelerate, affected by recovery of demand, as well as the impact of the government’s consolidation package. The latest prediction by the National Bank of Slovakia is 4.1 percent on average, which is a 0.3-percentage point increase from the previous outlook.
SITA
