Romania: Inflation rises in September
Consumer prices increased 0.84% over the previous month in September, picking up from August’s 0.24% increase. The result was driven by rising prices for food and non-food goods, as well as for services.
Inflation rose to 6.3% in September, above August’s 5.3%. September’s result represented the highest inflation rate since June 2011. Accordingly, the trend pointed up, with annual average inflation coming in at 3.6% in September (August: 3.3%).
Kevin Daly, economist at Goldman Sachs, expects inflation to rise further towards end-year and highlights that September’s result could trigger additional rate hikes from the Central Bank:
“Looking ahead, we expect a further pickup in energy inflation in the coming months with more electricity price hikes in the pipeline. On our estimates, we expect inflation to rise to around 8% yoy in November and December. […] Looking ahead, given expected inflation developments in the coming months, we expect the NBR to hike again by 25bp at its November meeting.”