Belarus: Inflation up in February
Consumer prices rose 0.9% over the previous month in February, marginally up from January’s 0.8% month-on-month increase. The increase was primarily driven by the 2.5% mom jump in prices for services, which easily outpaced moderate increases in food and non-food goods prices.
Inflation accelerated to 4.9% in February, up from a more moderate 4.5% January, marking only the second increase in the last 12 months.
Core inflation ticked up from 0.8% in January to 0.9% in February. Following the Central Bank’s decision on 14 February to cut the refinancing rate from 11.0% to 10.5%, the Bank’s chairman of the Board Pavel Kallaur announced further cuts would be made in the coming months.