Moldova's annual inflation rate stays flat in August

On a monthly comparison basis, consumer prices fell 0.4% in August, following a 0.9% drop in July, BNS said in a statement.

In August, food prices rose 8.4% on the year, while prices of non-food products increased by 4.9%. Prices of public utility and transport services rose 8.6% year-on-year in August.

At its last monetary policy meeting held in August, Moldova's central bank, BNM, decided to cut its key rate to 7.5% from 8.0%, striving to keep inflation close to its 5.0% target.

The central bank now projects 6.5% inflation in Moldova in 2017 and 4.4% in 2018. Previous BNM projections put inflation at 6.8% in 2017 and 5.1% in 2018.

Moldova's consumer prices rose by 6.4% in 2016, after increasing by 9.7% in the previous year.