June 10 (SeeNews) - Moldova's consumer prices rose to a new 23-year high of 29.05% year-on-year in May, compared to 27.07% in the previous month, the National Bureau of Statistics, BNS, said on Friday.
The main inflation driver in May were food prices, which added 32.5% year-on-year, BNS said in a statement.
Prices of non-food products rose 21.45% on the year in May, while the cost of services increased by an annual 35.27%.
On a monthly comparison basis, Moldova's consumer prices rose 2.04% in May. Food prices rose 2.50%, while non-food prices were up by a monthly 2.48%. Consumer prices in the services sector added 0.75% month-on-month.
May inflation is the highest since October 1999, when Moldova recorded a 53.6% surge in consumer prices, data from the central bank BNM showed.
Last month, BNM increased its 2022 inflation projection to 27.3% to from 18.8% estimated in February, due to the economic impact of the war in Ukraine and after-shocks of the pandemic.
On June 3, the central bank decided to raise its policy rate to 18.5% from 15.5% in order to temper the rise in consumer prices and to mitigate risks stemming from the war in Ukraine.
(1 euro =20.4187 Moldovan lei)