Chips anyone? Inflation rose to 5.3% year-on-year in August fueled by a rise in energy prices, the statistics office said on Friday.
If most food prices_ particularly Romanian telemea cheese and fresh fish cost more than a year ago_ some items such as potatoes are significantly cheaper.
August’s inflation was marginally higher than July’s 5% year-on-year rate which came after energy prices were liberalized on July 1.
The National Statistics Office said the sharpest process increases were in non-food items which shot up almost 8%.
Services rose by almost 3% and food prices were 2.7% more than a year before in August.
The biggest contributor to the price surge is electricity which is about 25 lei (more than 5 euros more) per 100 lei for each household.
Natural gas, which most people use for heating and water shot up by 20% from last summer. Gas consumption is still low as the weather is warm, but analysis expect a wave of price increases in the autumn.
Gasoline prices have also increased over the summer. A liter of gas on average cost 14% more in August than it did 12 months earlier.
If motorists were paying about 4.5 lei for a liter of unleaded gas last summer, they are now paying around 6 lei.
Oil, sheep cheese, fresh fish and margarine are more expensive.
But potatoes have fallen by one-third due to a good harvest. Fruit including citrus fruits and plane tickets have also gone down in price.
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