The consumer price index declined 0.21% in September, after a 0.35% decrease in August, the country’s statistics institute INS said in a statement.
Romanian central bank’s governor Mugur Isarescu last week estimated the annual inflation rate would fall within the bank’s target of 2%-4% at the end of September, owing to a good farming year. In August, the annual rate was 4.25%.
Food prices fell 1.2% on the month in September, but prices in the services and non-food sectors inched up 0.6% and 0.2%, respectively.
Romanians paid by 13.3% less for fresh and canned vegetables in September compared with a month earlier, while the cost of fresh and canned fruit decreased by 2.5%.
In the non-food sector, prices of cigarettes and tobacco went down 0.14% on the month, but fuel costs were 1.07% higher, the data showed.
Additionally, Romanians paid by 1.23% more for water and sewage services in September, while rail transport prices increased by 7.06% on the month.
Romania’s harmonized index of consumer prices, or HICP, fell to 6.9% at the end of September, from 7.3% the month before.