September 9 (SeeNews) - Moldova's consumer prices rose to a new 23-year high of 34.29% year-on-year in August, compared to 33.55% in the previous month, the National Bureau of Statistics, BNS, said on Friday.
The main inflation driver in August were food prices, which added 38.39% year-on-year, BNS said in a statement.
Prices of non-food products rose 23.26% on the year in August, while the cost of services increased by an annual 45.25%.
On a monthly comparison basis, Moldova's consumer prices rose 0.89% in August. Food prices rose 0.92%, while non-food prices were up by a monthly 0.27%. Consumer prices in the services sector added 1.75% month-on-month.
August inflation is the highest since September 1999, when Moldova recorded a 53.6% surge in consumer prices, data from the central bank BNM showed.
On August 9, Moldova's central bank BNM increased its 2022 inflation projection to 29.5% from 27.3% forecast in May, due to the economic impact of the war in Ukraine.
On August 5, BNM decided to raise its policy rate to 21.5% from 18.5% in order to temper the rise in consumer prices and to mitigate risks stemming from the war in Ukraine.
(1 euro =19.2062 lei)