The estimate for the 2014 annual inflation rate was lowered to 3%, from 3.1% initially envisaged, Isarescu said at the presentation of the bank’s quarterly inflation report.
He said the inflation rate is expected to decelerate to historical lows in the first half of 2014. However, once the effects of a sales tax cut for bread and bakery items have faded, the annual rate is bound to return toward the high end of the central bank’s target of 1.5%-3.5% a year, Isarescu said.
Romania’s inflation decelerated to 1.88% in September from 3.67% in August as food prices continued a four-month decline.
The central bank Tuesday lowered its main lending rate by a quarter of a point to a record low of 4% a year, the fourth consecutive cut in 2013.