Consumer prices in Slovakia increased at the same monthly pace in April, by 0.3 percent, but inflation from April 2011 to April 2012 was recorded at 3.6 percent compared to the annual comparison of 3.8 percent in March, the Statistics Office announced on May 14. So-called regulated prices showed an annual increase of 7.4 percent in April compared to 7.2 percent in March, the TASR newswire reported.
"The prices of foodstuffs alone dropped by 0.1 percentage points on a monthly basis in April and that contributed to a deceleration in their annual growth from 2.9 percent in March to 2 percent in April," said VÚB bank macroeconomist Andrej Arady as quoted by the TASR newswire. On a monthly basis, the highest price increases were in the health-care sector at 2.2 percent and in clothing and footwear at 2.1 percent.
According to Arady, a further drop in Brent crude oil prices will lay the groundwork for deceleration in price increases in fuels to continue, adding that this may also curb rises in transport prices and the final prices of transported items.
Vladimír Kocúrek, the vice-president of CBA Slovakia, a retail supermarket chain, expects foodstuff prices to increase mainly due to increases in the price of bread and other bakery products.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
