Monthly inflation in March was 0.1 per cent

Bulgaria’s annual consumer price index (CPI) rose by 0.6 per cent in March, compared to 0.1 per cent deflation a month earlier, data released by the National Statistical Institute (NSI) on April 14 show.

Monthly inflation in March was 0.1 per cent, the seventh time that the monthly CPI figure showed an increase over the previous 12 months, which also saw deflation recorded four times and one month of zero growth.

Beyond the Covid-19 pandemic’s impact on the inflation indicator, it limited NSI’s ability to collect the data, with the statistics body saying that it had to extrapolate about three per cent of the total consumer price index, compared to five per cent a month earlier.

Food prices were 0.1 per cent lower in March compared to the previous month and services prices were 0.6 per cent down, while non-food prices rose by 0.7. Compared to March 2020, food prices were 0.1 per cent higher, while non-food prices fell by 0.3per cent and services prices rose by 1.7 per cent.

The harmonised CPI figure, calculated by NSI for comparison with European Union data, recorded 0.2 per cent inflation in March, while the annual harmonised CPI inflation was 0.8 per cent.

Food and beverage prices were 0.2 per cent higher, on an annual basis, while the price of utilities and housing increased by 0.8 per cent and transportation costs were one per cent lower compared to March 2020. The three categories account for about 48.8 per cent of the harmonised CPI basket.