Bulgaria’s consumer prices tick up 0.1% y/y in March after 19 months of deflation

By bne IntelliNews April 15, 2015

Bulgaria’s consumer prices edged up 0.1% y/y in March, reversing a 0.5% y/y decline in February and posting their first annual growth in 20 months, statistics office data showed. Compared to the previous month, prices went up 0.4% in March, after rising 0.2% in February.

The return to annual inflation was supported by developments in seven groups out of a total of 12 comprising the index. After being flat y/y in February, prices in the groups food and non-alcoholic beverages, as well as clothing and footwear increased y/y in March, in both cases by 0.5%. Annual deflation softened in the groups of furnishings (to 0.9% in March from 1.4% in February), transport (to 8.4% from 12.4%) and miscellaneous goods and service (to 0.5% from 0.9%). In addition, y/y inflation accelerated in the groups housing (to 5.6% from 5.5%) and recreation and culture (to 3.3% from 3.2%).

Notably, last month prices of “fuels and lubricants for personal transport equipment” registered both the deepest y/y decrease (down 13.9%) and the highest m/m increase (up 8.5%).

The EU-harmonised index of consumer prices declined 1.1% y/y in March after dropping 1.7% y/y in February. On a monthly basis, the harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP) increased by 0.3% in March.

CPI, % y/y      
  Jan'15 Feb'15 Mar'15
Total CPI -1.0 -0.5 0.1
Food and non-alcoholic beverages -1.0 0.0 0.5
Alcoholic beverages and tobacco 0.8 0.7 0.7
Clothing and footwear -0.5 0.0 0.5
Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels 5.4 5.5 5.6
Furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance -1.1 -1.4 -0.9
Health -1.8 -1.5 -1.6
Transport -14.2 -12.4 -8.4
Communication -6.7 -6.5 -6.6
Recreation and culture 3.1 3.2 3.3
Education 2.6 2.7 2.5
Restaurants and hotels 0.7 0.7 0.6
Miscellaneous goods and service -0.9 -0.9 -0.5
Source: Statistics office      
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