Hungary inflation flat in August

Budapest, September 8 (MTI) – Hungary’s annual consumer price index flatlined in August, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said on Tuesday.

Emerging market analysts in London had forecast August CPI around the zero mark after a 0.4 percent rise in July.

Headline inflation fell on a 4.5 percent drop in the price of goods in the category that includes vehicle fuel as well as a 2.7 percent decline in household energy prices, the fresh data show. Food prices edged up 0.9 percent, the price of tobacco and spirits rose by 3.9 percent and consumer durable prices climbed by 1.3 percent.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and fuel prices, was 1.2 percent.

Erste analysts Vivien Barczel and Gergely Urmossy said inflation was likely to accelerate in the coming months and could come close to 2 percent by December. They put average annual inflation at 0.2 percent.

ING chief analyst Andras Balatoni said CPI could climb over 1 percent by year-end as oil prices rise. He, too, put the average annual CPI at 0.2 percent.

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters