BRATISLAVA, April 13, (WEBNOVINY) – The growth of consumer prices in Slovakia in March accelerated further. According to Statistics Office data, inflation measured by national methodology increased from 3.3 percent in February to 3.6 percent in March, which is the highest pace since December 2008. Food, transport, housing and energy prices grew the most. In a month-on-month comparison, prices in March were 0.4 percent higher than in February, while in February they rose 0.3 percent from January.
Core inflation, which monitors consumer prices excluding regulated prices and administrative interventions in taxation, accelerated in March from 1.8 percent in February to 2.2 percent. Net inflation, which disregards the development of food prices, accelerated year-on-year from 0.7 percent in February to 1.1 percent in March. On a monthly basis, core inflation was 0.5 percent and net inflation 0.1 percent in the third month of 2011.
After a historically low inflation in 2010, which reached an average of 1 percent due to low demand during the crisis, Slovakia is resuming a faster price growth. Bank analysts estimate a gradual increase in the price growth to 3.9 percent in December.
