Loading ...The annual inflation rate in the euro zone (EU-15) attained in September 2008 the value of 3.6%, a drop compared to the level of 3.8% recorded in August 2008, according to a revised estimation published on October 15 by the European Statistics Office (Eurostat), which confirms the preliminary estimation released on September 30, 2008.
This is a new reduction after the one registered in August, when the price rise in the euro zone slowed down to 3.8% from the record level of 4% in June and July, 2008. Even though the inflation continued to slow down in September, an annual inflation rate of 3.6% is much higher compared to the inflation target set by the European Central Bank (BEC), which seeks to maintain below 2% the price increase in the 15 European Union member states in the euro zone.
In the European Union, the annual inflation rate attained in September the level of 4.2%, a decline from the level of 4.3% in August 2008. The highest annual inflation rates were registered in Latvia (14.7%), Bulgaria (11.4%), Lithuania (11.3%), Estonia (10.8%) and Romania (7.3%). At the opposite pole the lowest annual inflation rates were reported in The Netherlands (2.8%), Germany (3.0%), Ireland and Portugal (both with an advance of 3.2%).
Compared to August 2008, the annual inflation rate declined in 17 member states, remained stable in two and increased in eight EU member states. Eurostat stressed that, in the case of the euro zone, the main components with the strongest annual increase in September 2008 were houses (6.2%), transportation (5.8%) and foodstuffs (5.7%). As against August 2008 the components with the highest increase were clothing items (6.5%), education services (0.8%) and household appliances (0.5%).
In Romania’s case, the figure reported by Eurostat coincides with the one published by the National Statistics Institute (INS), which recently announced that the inflation rate stood in September at 0.4% from the previous month, whereas the annual inflation (September 2007 – September 2008) declined to 7.3% from 8.02%, the level in August.
The National Prognosis Commission (CNP) estimates an inflation rate in 2008 (December/December) of 5.8% and an annual average inflation of 7.6%. Romania’s National Bank (BNR) target for this year is of 3.8% (December/December), plus/minus 1%. At the beginning of August, BNR revised upwards by 0.6% the inflation projection for 2008, from 6 to 6.6%.
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