Slovakia: Harmonized inflation increases in May
Harmonized inflation increased to 2.6% in May, matching the Euro area average but slightly above April’s 2.4%. Looking at the details of the release, prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages increased at a faster pace in May. In contrast, prices for transportation and hospitality increased at a softer pace, and prices for recreation dropped.
Meanwhile, the trend pointed down, with annual average harmonized inflation falling to a two-year low 6.5% in May (April: 7.3%). Meanwhile, consumer price inflation ticked up to 2.2% in May from the previous month’s 2.1%.
Lastly, harmonized consumer prices increased 0.13% in May over the previous month, which was below April’s 0.37% rise.
Erste Group’s Marian Kocis commented:
“In the coming months, the base effect will no longer have a significant impact on inflation, which means that inflation may even slightly increase, as we saw in May. Core inflationary pressures persist in the economy, driven by factors such as low unemployment rates and robust nominal wage growth. On the other hand, households will use higher wages to replenish their savings, somewhat limiting spending. Thus, the increase in savings will have an anti-inflationary effect. […] We expect the average annual inflation to be slightly below 3% in 2024.”