Consumer prices rose by 3.8 percent year-on-year last month, while core inflation stood at 2.4 percent and net inflation amounted to 2.6 percent, the Statistics Office (ŠÚ) announced on Monday, March 12. The month-on-month increase amounted to 0.2 percent.
In terms of individual items, transport posted a significant month-on-month hike in consumer prices – 0.8 percent – followed by alcoholic beverages on 0.6 percent and hotels, cafes and restaurants as well as miscellaneous goods and services (0.4 percent each). Meanwhile, monthly falls were seen in the prices of clothing and footwear (1 percent), while those of telecommunications and postal services remained unchanged, the TASR newswire wrote.
Analysts expect inflation to continue to decelerate slightly in March, based on data from the Statistics Office about consumer prices.
"[The prices of] food should continue their deceleration in year-on-year growth due to developments in the prices of agricultural commodities," said the NBS, Slovakia's central bank. Meanwhile, fuel prices should also rise at a slower pace than in March 2011. This will be due to the expected stabilisation of oil prices on world markets compared to the rise in prices last year (caused largely by the crisis in Libya), the NBS commented.
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.
