May 17 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's consumer prices rose by 14.4% year-on-year in April, following an annual increase of 12.4% in March, the statistical office said on Tuesday.
On a monthly comparison basis, consumer prices went up by 2.5% in April, after adding 2.2% in the previous month, the National Statistical Institute (NSI) said in a monthly inflation report.
For the third straight month, transport prices showed the highest year-on-year increase, of 28.6%, NSI data showed.
Prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages, which have the largest weight in the consumer basket, were 20.2% higher in April than in the same month of 2021. Prices in the other major category - housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, went up 15.2% on the year.
Bulgaria’s EU-harmonised consumer price index (HICP) climbed 12.1% on an annual comparison basis in April and was 2.5% higher than in March. The inflation rate continued its upward trend, having increased by 7.8% since the start of 2022.
Bulgaria's average inflation is expected to accelerate to 10.4% in 2022 due to rising energy and food prices, the finance ministry said in its spring macroeconomic forecast in March.
In its own spring economic forecast for the current year, the European Commission on Monday projected inflation rate in Bulgaria to reach 11.9% in 2022, before dropping to 5% in 2023.