Bulgaria annual deflation down to 1.6% in April
Bulgaria’s consumer price index rose by 0.3 per cent in April 2014, pushing the year-on-year deflation figure to 1.6 per cent at the end of the month, compared to 2.3 per cent in March, data from the National Statistical Institute (NSI) showed on May 13.
The data shows prices in Bulgaria increasing for the first time this year, on a monthly basis, after three straight months of deflation. It was also only the fourth such monthly increase in the consumer price index (CPI) over the past 12 months.
Food prices were 0.3 per cent higher than in March, while non-food prices rose by 0.8 per cent; services prices fell by 0.2 per cent, NSI said.
In annual terms, food prices were 1.1 per cent lower than at the end of April 2013. Services were 2.6 per cent cheaper – still showing the impact of two out of three electricity price cuts ordered by the utilities regulator last year – and non-food prices fell by 1.6 per cent over that period, NSI data showed.
The harmonised CPI figure, calculated by the statistics board for comparison with European Union data, rose by 0.2 per cent in April. On an annual basis, the harmonised CPI recorded 1.3 per cent deflation.
Food and beverages were 1.1 per cent cheaper, on an annual basis, while the price of utilities and rent has fallen by 3.4 per cent and transportation costs were down 1.8 per cent over the previous 12 months. The three categories account for just over half of the harmonised consumer price index.
(Photo: svilen001/sxc.hu)
