CONSUMER prices continued to fall in March, when they dropped by 0.1 percent year-on-year. Core inflation stood at 0.2 percent in March and net inflation at 0.1 percent, the Statistics Office (ŠÚ) reported on its website.
The most notable year-on-year price drops were seen in the following areas: transport by 1.8 percent; postal and telecommunications services by 1.4 percent; housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels by 1.1 percent; miscellaneous goods and services by 1 percent; and furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance by 0.7 percent, according to the ŠÚ.
Conversely, prices went up the most in education by 5 percent; alcoholic beverages and tobacco by 2.5 percent; hotels, cafés and restaurants by 1.4 percent; health care by 1 percent; clothing and footwear by 0.7 percent; foodstuffs and non-alcoholic beverages by 0.5 percent; and recreation and culture by 0.4 percent.
On a monthly basis, consumer prices as a whole stayed put. Prices rose in furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance by 0.4 percent; alcoholic beverages and tobacco by 0.3 percent; education by 0.2 percent; as well as in recreation and culture, hotels, cafés and restaurants, and miscellaneous goods and services, all by 0.1 percent each. They fell in the categories of transport by 0.4 percent, foodstuffs and non-alcoholic beverages by 0.3 percent and clothing and footwear by 0.1 percent.
The continued deflation was in line with the expectations of the National Bank of Slovakia (NBS), country’s central bank, the TASR newswire reported.
At the same time, the NBS indicated that it considers the likelihood of deflation at the end of this year to remain low, and it predicts that inflation will reach about 1 percent by that time.
