(source: Sme)
The annual inflation rate slowed down in March. After four months of stagnation, when it amounted to 3 percent, it reached only 2.3 percent in total in March. Core inflation reached 2.4 percent and net inflation 1.7 percent.
Compared with February 2019, core inflation affected the total inflation by a -0.04 percentage point and regulated prices by a 0.01 percentage point, while indirect taxes did not affect total inflation. Core inflation was affected by food prices by a 0.04 percentage point and net inflation by a -0.08 percentage point, the Statistics Office informed.
“Mostly fuel prices, which responded to the falling oil prices on the global markets, contributed to the slower increase in prices,” Ľubomír Koršňák, analyst with UniCredit Bank Czech Republic and Slovakia, wrote in a memo.
Fuel prices fell in March by 5.6 percent month-on-month, while in annual terms they dropped by nearly 8 percent, he added.
Inflation was negatively affected by food prices and demand inflation as well.
