Food prices grew 5.7% in April compared with April 2019, prices of non-food items were 0.5% higher, and service prices grew 3%.
Compared with March 2020, consumer prices grew 0.26% in April, with food prices increasing by 1.27% and prices of non-food items dropping 0.3%.
The annual rate calculated on the basis of the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) is 2.3%.
The average consumer price rate based on the CPI over the last 12 months (May 2019-April 2020) as compared to the previous 12 months (May 2018-April 2019) is 3.6%. The average rate based on the HICP is 3.6%.
In April 2020 compared with December 2019, the highest price increases were recorded by potatoes (21%), fruit (17%), canned vegetables (16%), citrus (8%), postal services (12%) and beans (10%) fruit and canned fruit (15.9%), while prices of natural gas and eggs and fell nearly 5% and over 1%, respectively.
The European Commission sees Romania’s inflation at 2.5% in 2020 and growing to 3.1% in 2021. The unemployment rate is estimate to grow to 6.5% this year from a record low of 3.9% in 2019. Unemployment is estimated to then back down to 5.4% in 2021.
The International Monetary Fund estimates Romania’s inflation at 2.2% in 2020 from 3.8% in 2019, a current account deficit of 5.5% of GDP from 4.7% in 2019, and unemployment rising to 10% from last year’s 3.9% in the fallout triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.
Financial analysts, members of CFA Romania (Chartered Financial Analyst) association, expect Romania’s annual inflation rate to reach an average 3.37% in the next 12 months.