OREANDA-NEWS. March 17, 2014. It was kept floated within the inflation mid-term target of 5%. The monthly inflation increased 0.5% due to the 0.7% growth in food prices, the 0.7% increase in nonfood ones and the 0.2% rise in tariffs for services to the population, the National bank informs.

The annual core inflation made up 5.1% in February 2014, up 0.3 p. as compared with the previous month, NBM informs. The monthly core inflation made up 0.6% in the reporting period, staying unchanged as compared with the previous month. The most considerable increases in prices caused by the core inflation were recorded for cars, auto spares, apartment rents, detergents, cigarettes, cloths and building materials.

In February prices for foods grew 0.7% as compared with January. In particular, the price grew 7.4% for potatoes; 3.4% for fresh vegetables; 2.2% for milk and dairy products; 1.9% for fish and canned fish; 0.7% for non-alcoholic beverages. The growth was in part smoothed by the decline in the eggs price by 11.5% and in the sugar price by 3.6. The annual pace of growth in food prices was 7.9% in February, up 0.63 p.p. month-on-month. The growth in the abovementioned prices is explained by the national currency devaluation and an increase in global dairy products prices. The decline in the sugar prices was caused by the contraction of the sugar VAT from 20% to 8%. In February 2014 prices for fuel climbed 1.1% as compared with the previous month.

The price for liquefied bottled gas increased 4%, the prices for coal and combustibles increased 2.1%. At the same time, the prices for firewood and liquefied fuel stayed unchanged and the price for coal decreased 0.6%. The changes in the fuel prices are explained by a growth in oil prices recorded lat January and caused, in its turn, by an increase in the excises and by devaluation of the Moldovan Leu against USD.

The annual pace of growth in fuel prices was 2.8% in February, 0.3 p.p. down as compared with the previous month. In February, regulated prices increased 0.2% month-on-month, the increase being formed by 0.5% higher prices for medicines, 0.3% higher tariffs for healthcare services; the 3.7% higher hostel rent, the 3.8% higher tariffs for air transportation and the 0.7% higher tariffs for railway one.

The annual pace of the administrative prices growth in the reporting period was 2.8%, staying unchanged month-on-month. The NBM promises to be observing the evolution of the domestic economy and the international economic environment, including the evolution of the demand, remittances and external trade so that to maintain the mid-term price stability through use of instruments of monetary policies within the Inflation Targeting Strategy.