Bulgaria monthly, annual CPI flat in August
Bulgaria’s consumer price index (CPI) was unchanged both in monthly and annual terms in August, data from the National Statistical Institute (NSI) showed on September 14.
August’s CPI figure ends a three-month streak of monthly deflation, which pushed the annual figure into negative territory for the first time in five months in July. Last month, annual and monthly CPI figures showed identical 0.2 per cent deflation.
Food prices rose by 0.6 per cent in August and services prices were 0.1 per cent higher, while non-food prices fell by 0.6 per cent compared to July. In annual terms, services prices were the main driver of CPI growth, rising by 2.4 per cent compared to August 2014, while food prices were 0.2 per cent higher and non-food prices were 2.3 per cent lower.
The harmonised CPI figure, calculated by NSI for comparison with European Union data, was 0.1 per cent higher on a monthly basis, but the annual harmonised CPI remained in deflationary territory for the 25th consecutive month, having shrunk by 0.8 per cent compared to August 2014.
Food and beverage prices were 0.5 per cent up, on an annual basis, and the price of utilities and rent has increased by 3.6 per cent, while transportation costs were 7.8 per cent lower compared to a year earlier. The three categories account for half of the harmonised consumer price index.
(Photo: svilen001/sxc.hu)
