Czech Republic: Inflation jumps in April
Consumer prices soared 0.50% from the previous month in April, following march’s 0.18% increase. Looking at the details of the release, April’s result mainly reflected higher prices for transport, alcoholic beverages and tobacco and food and non-alcoholic beverages.
Meanwhile, inflation jumped to 3.1% in April from March’s 2.3%, marking the highest reading since September 2020 and piercing the higher bound of the Central Bank’s 1.0%–3.0% tolerance range. Lastly, annual average inflation was stable at March’s 2.8% in April.
Commenting on the release, Jakub Seidler, Czech Republic chief economist at ING, stated:
“While the CPI was driven higher by technical and supply factors, it is still above the central bank’s tolerance band and likely increases the chances for an end-of-June hike, in our view. It is clear now that the CNB meeting in June or August will deliver the first CNB tightening.”