1.3% inflation and new basket

The inflationary rate reached 1.3% in January, amounting to 16.6% if compared with the year-ago period. The highest price increases in January were logged by the foodstuffs, which went up 1.5%. The non-foodstuffs price increases contributed 1.1% to the inflation, as did the service tariffs. Inflation had started out in full gear last year, reaching 2.3%. However, there have been changes in the structure of the commodities and service basket used for calculating the consumer price index in 2003. This led to a series of foodstuffs being replaced by other, more relevant foodstuffs, while some of the non-foodstuffs were taken out. One thing is for sure: the inflation calculated for December 2002 by the new basket structure amounted to 1.2%, lower than the 1.5% resulted from calculating by the old basket structure. The authorities’ 2003 goals are curbing inflation from 17.8% at the end of 2002, down to 13%-14% at the end of December 2003. ZF