The inflation rate in Croatia in September reached 5 percent, which is the highest level in the past four year and significantly higher than expected, according to the data released by the Bureau of Statistics (DZS) on Tuesday
The data indicates that the consumer price index in September was 1.4 percent higher than in August and 5.0 percent higher than in September last year.
Five macro-economists polled by Hina news agency expected a price rise by 4.1 per cent in September.
The price of goods grew by 1.9 percent in September compared to August while the price of services fell by 0.6 percent.
"Prices have grown as expected due to the increased price of energy and food. Considering the high portion of the shopping basket and inflexibility of prices their strong influence on consumer prices comes as no surprise despite the lower demand. The prices increase on food products amounted to 6 percent which is probably due to the exceptional drought", Raiffeisenbank Austria (RBA) analysts commented the figures released by DZS.
"Considering the weak domestic demand and absence of economic recovery, the influence of demand on prices is not present. Increased Value Added Tax, price increased on electricity and gas and higher prices on food will be evident in the annual growth rate in consumer prices. We expect that the increased prices of heating will accelerate the rate of price increases even further before the end of the year, RBA analysts concluded.
