At the end of February, the annual inflation was at 0.4%.
Prices of food products went up 0.3% on the month in March, while non-food items were by 0.6% more expensive, the data showed. Service prices were up 0.15% compared with February.
Romanians paid 1.8% more for vegetables in March compared with a month earlier, while fruit prices increased 3.1%. In the non-food sector, most of the growth was due to price of fuels, which was up 2% on the month, while the tobacco product costs rose 1.4%. Among prices of services, utility costs were 0.5% higher than in February, while healthcare service prices went up 0.3% on the month.
Compared with March 2014, food product prices inched 0.1% lower, but the prices of non-food items and services rose 1.2% and 1.5%, respectively.
The central bank estimates an annual inflation rate of 2.1% for the end of 2015, but it may soon cut down its forecast after the government announced a reduction in the value-added tax rate for all food products to 9% from 24% starting June. Analysts already predicted the inflation may turn negative by the end of the year.