Inflation starts off with all-time low

The annual inflationary rate has gone down to an all-time low in the first month of 2004, reaching 13.9% compared with January 2003. The inflationary pressures maintained this January, even though they were relatively lower than expected, with the monthly inflation settling at 1.1% after four consecutive months during which it dropped from a 2.1% peak in September to 1.2% in December. Romania can no longer afford monthly inflationary rates above 1%, as long as the authorities and the National Bank of Romania maintain their goal to curb inflation below 10% by the end of December. Early this year, the National Statistics Institute (INS) updated the weight of all the goods and services included in the basket used to compute inflation figures based on the investigation about family budgets in 2002. The weights of the utility price fluctuations were visibly increased, considering their former level used to be the main reason for doubting the accuracy of the indicator calculated by INS. The weights of the foodstuffs were reduced. ZF