In the 12 months ended June 30, the annual rate reached a record low of 0.66%, the country’s statistics institute INS said.
Food prices edged down 0.3% on the month in July, but service prices rose 0.4%. Prices of non-food items were stable on the month, the data showed.
Romanians paid by 2.3% less for fresh and canned vegetables in July compared with a month earlier, while the price of sugar decreased 2%. In the non-food sector, electricity tariffs fell 2.2% on the month, while fuel prices inched down 0.1%.
On the other hand, natural gas prices rose 2.4% in July from a month earlier.
Romania’s harmonized index of consumer prices, or HICP, inched down to 1.4% at the end of last month, from 1.5% in June.
The central bank targets an inflation rate of 2.5% in 2014, plus/minus one percentage point around the band. Last week, the bank revised down its year-end forecast to 2.2% from 3.3%, saying the inflation rate is expected to decelerate at a faster pace than initially estimated.
At its latest monetary policy meeting, the central bank has lowered its main lending rate by 25 basis points to an all-time low of 3.25% a year, but kept the minimum reserve requirements unchanged for both leu and foreign currency deposits.