Romania’s inflation eases further to 5.1% in May
<p>Romania’s annual inflation rate weakened further in May, to 5.1%, according to the&nbsp;<a href="https://insse.ro/cms/sites/default/files/com_presa/com_pdf/ipc05r24.pdf" rel="noopener" target="_blank">official report</a>&nbsp;released by the statistics institute INS on Wednesday, June 12. The figure dropped from 5.9% in April and 6.6% the month before.</p>

<p>The inflation rate from the beginning of the year (May 2024 to December 2023) was 2.3%, INS also said.</p>

<p>Food prices increased by&nbsp;1.24% year-over-year in May 2024, while non-food goods got 6.38% more expensive, and services tariffs rose by roughly 9.29%.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Among foods, the biggest year-over-year price increases were recorded for canned fruits - roughly 10%, wine and beer - over 8%, and beef - 7.77%. The price of flour decreased the most, by 30.51%.</p>

<p>When it comes to non-food goods, medicines were the star of price increases with 24.15%, followed by detergents - 23.70%. The price of natural gas dropped by 17.89%, marking the biggest decrease of the period.</p>

<p>Meanwhile, the service tariff increase was mainly influenced by a 26.57% hike in postal services.</p>

<p>The National Bank of Romania (BNR) has revised upward to 4.9% from 4.7% previously the inflation forecast for the end of this year, according to <a href="https://www.agerpres.ro/economic-intern/2024/06/12/rata-anuala-a-inflatiei-a-coborat-la-5-12-in-mai-2024--1311527" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Agerpres</a>. At the same time, the financial institution expects the inflation to drop to 3.5% at the end of 2025.</p>

<p><i>irina.marica@romania-insider.com</i></p>

<p><i>(Photo source:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dreamstime.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">T</a></i><em><a href="https://www.dreamstime.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">ero Vesalainen/Dreamstime.com</a>)</em></p>