TIRANA (Albania), June 8 (SeeNews) – Albania's consumer prices rose by 2.1% year-on-year in May, after increasing at the same annual rate in April, the statistical office, INSTAT, said on Friday.
Prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages, which have the largest weight of 38.6% in the consumer basket, increased by 2.8% on the year in May, after adding 3.1% in the previous month.
Housing, water, electricity and fuel prices, which have a weight of 20.9% in the consumer basket, added 2.7% year-on-year in May, after an annual increase of 2.5% in April.
On a monthly comparison basis, consumer prices in Albania decreased by 1.2% in May, after edging down 0.5% in the previous month.
On June 6, Albania's central bank decided to cut its key interest rate by 25 basis points to a record low of 1.0% amid strong appreciation of the domestic lek currency increasing downside pressures on inflation. Inflation is anticipated to return to the central bank's target of 3% within next year, the central bank said.