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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