Annualised inflation reaches all time low in February

The slight drop in the price of food and non-food goods in February saw the monthly inflation decrease to a figure to close to zero. The annualised inflation (calculated for the last 12 months) declined in February for the second consecutive month, to a historical low of 3.8%. This happened after a new decrease in the price of food products had caused the monthly inflation to stay close to zero, according to data provided by the National Statistics Institute (INS). The drop of the annualised inflation was mainly triggered by the slight decline in the price of food products. Among these, eggs saw the biggest price decrease, by almost 15%, while the price of meat fell by over 0.6%. “In February, disinflation benefited from a stronger RON and the elimination of customs duties on EU trade. As long as controlled prices stay the same, inflation should maintain within the current parameters until the end of the year, when we may see the side effects of excess demand and salary increases,” states Florin Citu, chief economist of ING Bank.