“The annual inflation will be within our margin rates not at the end of the year, but next week (when the statistics institute will release the figures for September – e.n.). It will be above 3%, but below 4%,” Isarescu said at the Romania Financial Forum 2011 organized by Mediafax and the central bank.
Romanian consumer prices fell for the third straight month in August, on cheaper food, while the annual inflation eased to a 17-month low of 4.25%. The figures for September will be released on October 11.
The central bank targets an annual inflation of 3% at the end of 2011, plus/minus one percentage point around the band. The bank recently revised downward its forecast on the year-end inflation to 4.6% from 5.1%, citing improved economic conditions and less volatile prices.