The annual inflation rate climbed up 4 percent in December 2019, from 3.8 percent in November, as food prices increased by 5.08 percent and non-food prices by 3.31 percent, while the price of services registered an advance of 4.16 percent, according to latest data released by the National Institute of Statistics (INS) on Tuesday.
“In December 2019, consumer prices were 4.0 percent higher YoY. The annual rate based on the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) is 4.0 percent. The average consumer price index in the last 12 months (January 2019 – December 2019) compared to the previous 12 months (January 2018 – December 2018), based on the HICP, is 3.8 percent. The HICP-based average rate is 3.9 percent,” according to the INS.
The National Bank of Romania (BNR) downgraded its inflation forecast for the end of 2019 to 3.8 percent, from 4.2 percent, while estimating an inflation of 3.1 percent by the end of this year, BNR Governor Mugur Isarescu announced in November when he released the central bank’s Quarterly Inflation Report.
The National Commission for Strategy and Prognosis (CNSP) assessed in the Autumn Forecast 2019 released on November 27 last year, that the process of disinflation will continue due to the exhaustion of the excess consumption demand, and the average annual inflation will reach 2.6 percent in 2023 , up from 3.8 percent in 2019.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) revised upwards the estimates on consumer prices in Romania in 2019, to an average annual growth of 4.2 percent, as against a 3.3 percent advance expected in spring, IMF used to say that in 2020 prices are expected to rise by 3.3 percent, compared to a 3 percent increase as estimated in spring.