A first in Romanian economy since 1989: annual inflation turned negative in June

Consumer prices fell by almost three per cent in June compared to May due to lower VAT on food and beverages at nine per cent from June 1

2015-08-04 23:47:54 - From the Print Edition

Consumer prices fell by almost three per cent in June compared to May due to lower VAT on food and beverages at nine per cent from June 1, while the annual inflation rate registered a negative outlook at -1.6 per cent for first time in 25 years, influenced by the lower food prices by 6.4 per cent, according to the INS (National Institute of Statistics), quoted by Mediafax. Compared to the previous month, food prices dropped by 8.2 per cent and non-food goods prices increased in June by 0.1 per cent and services by 0.2 per cent.
The most significant price drops were registered at potatoes, a decrease by 14.6 per cent, corn flour (-12 per cent) and cow milk (-11.5 per cent), while the lowest price reductions were recorded at wine (-0 1 per cent), beer (-0.9 per cent), excluding bakery products which have not experienced significant price reductions, given the fact that the reduced rate was already applied for them.
The non-food goods category recorded lower prices by 0.2 per cent, while detergents saw -0.03 per cent. On the other hand, the highest increases were recorded for cars and spare parts (+ 0.3 per cent) and watches (+ 0.2 per cent). Regarding services, the prices in restaurants, cafes and canteens decreased by 1.22 per cent, while "other services" category fell by 1.06 per cent. For water, sewage and sanitation services, tariffs rose by 0.9 per cent, while the ones for interurban transport and telephone services increased by 0.6 per cent and by 0.5 per cent respectively. Measured with the harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP), prices went down by 0.9 per cent compared to June 2014.