Serbia's year-ahead inflation expectations drop further in Feb

In January, the year-ahead inflation expectations entered the NBS target band for the first time in almost two years.

In February, the year-ahead expectations of the corporate sector also - to 6.0% from 6.7% in January, NBS said in a statement, citing the results of an Ipsos survey.

In addition, two- and three-year ahead inflation expectations of both the financial and corporate sectors are lower than their short-term expectations, signalling their anticipation of easing inflationary pressures in the period ahead and of inflation's gradual return within the target band, NBS noted.

In February, the financial sector expectations for two years ahead remained flat compared to January at 3.5%, but fell to 3.0% from January's 3.3% for three years ahead. The medium-term corporate expectations remained flat at 5.0% for two years ahead, and fell to 4.0% from January's 5.0% for three years ahead, entering the NBS target band for the first time since October 2022.

In February, NBS said annual inflation is expected to return to the targeted range of 1.5% to 4.5% by the middle of 2024, and approach the target midpoint of 3% late in the year.

Annual consumer price growth slowed down to 5.6% in February, from 6.4% in January, Serbia's statistical office has said.