Food prices grew 5.24%, prices of non-food items were 0.15% higher, and service prices grew 2.6% in May 2020 compared with May 2019.
Compared with April 2020, consumer prices grew 0.05% in May, with food prices increasing by 0.3%, services prices inching up 0.1% and prices of non-food items dropping 0.18%.
The annual rate calculated on the basis of the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) is 1.8%.
The average consumer price rate based on the CPI over the last 12 months (June 2019-May 2020) as compared to the previous 12 months (June 2018-May 2019) is 3.4%.
The average rate based on the HICP is 3.3%.
Since the beginning of 2020, the highest price increases were recorded by fresh fruit (24.65%) and potatoes (20.8%), while prices of eggs fell 3.9% and fuel prices dropped over 9%.
End-May 2020, Romania’s central bank lowered its inflation forecast to 2.8% for the end of 2020 from a previous projection of 3%. The central bank also lowered its 2021 inflation forecast to 2.5% for the end of 2021 from a previous projection of 3.2%.