INFLATION GOES UP BY 2.7% DUE TO COSTLY FOODSTUFFS

In April alone, the consumer price index (CPI) was 100.2%, compared to March, i.e. the monthly inflation was 0.2%, while the cost of life increased by 2.7% since the beginning of the year. According to National Statistical Institute (NSI) data, published yesterday, the price rise in the Foodstuffs and Drinks group contributed mostly to this inflation rate. Year-on-year, the inflation rate reached 4.6%.

Prices of clothes and footwear increased the most in April – by 3.4% on average, compared to March, those of foods and drinks - by 0.7%, while spending on healthcare and education rose by 0.1% and 0.2%, respectively.

Among foodstuffs, fruit prices registered the highest increase in April - 5.4%, followed by sugar (4.3%). In the category of non-foods and services, the price of natural gas for central gas supply rose by 3.1%, urban public transport prices increased by 1.6%, the cost of traffic insurance by 1.2%, hygiene products - by 0.8%, etc.

In March, inflation registered its biggest increase since the beginning of the crisis, reaching 5.6% year-on-year and 0.6% on a monthly basis. Consumer prices have now begun to slow down their growth. Even transport became cheaper in April by 1.3%. Analysts explain this by the moratorium on the retail prices of fuels imposed by the Government. As a result, the price of propane-butane for household consumption decreased by 4.8%, that of diesel fuel - by 2.2%, petrol A95N – by 2%, and petrol A98N - by 1.9%, reported NSI. In May, however, fuel prices are expected to increase again.

The Government has projected a 3.6% inflation rate for the entire 2011. The spring forecast of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), published yesterday, estimates inflation in Bulgaria at 4.8% for 2011 and at 3.7% for 2012. The price increase has been pointed out as one of the main risks to the global economy.