Bulgaria's annual inflation eases to 3% in March

In monthly comparison terms, consumer prices edged up by 0.2% last month after a rise of 0.3% in February, NSI said in a monthly report.

Compared to the previous month, prices in March grew the most in recreation and culture, along with communications - each by 0.9%. In contrast, the highest monthly price decline was registered in clothing and footwear, at 0.6%, followed by housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels with a 0.5% fall.

Bulgaria's inflation rate since the beginning of the year stood at 1%, while the average annual inflation for the past 12 months was 6.5%, NSI data showed.

Annual inflation under the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), which allows comparison on the same terms among all EU member states, slowed to 3.1% in March from 3.5% in February. In monthly terms, EU-harmonised consumer prices rose by 0.2% last month after climbing by 0.3% in February.