Hungary consumer prices climbs to 2.8 pc in May

Consumer prices in Hungary rose by an annual 2.8 percent in May, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said on Friday.

In a month-on-month comparison, prices were up by 0.6 percent.

The headline figure accelerated from 2.3 percent in April.

Annual CPI harmonised for better comparison with other European Union member states stood at 2.9 percent.

Seasonally-adjusted core inflation, which excludes volatile fuel and food prices, was at 2.4 percent.

Calculating with a basket of goods and services used by pensioners, inflation was 2.6 percent.

In a monthly analysis released after the publication of the KSH data, the National Bank of Hungary said its measures of underlying inflation developments were “effectively unchanged from April”. “The measures continued to be at or around 2 percent and remained below the level of core inflation,” it added.

The indicator for core inflation excluding the effects of indirect taxes stood at 2.2 percent in May, unchanged from the previous month.