March 12 (SeeNews) - Erste Group said on Thursday it expects Serbia's average annual consumer price inflation to stand at about 2% in 2020.
"As domestic demand outlook remains positive, we expect to see some pass-through effect on prices throughout the year which should be offset by the tumble in commodities as coronavirus fears mount, hence our expectations of another year of 2%-alike inflation average," Erste Group said in an instant comment after Serbia's statistical office published inflation data for February earlier on Thursday.
Serbia's consumer prices rose by 1.9% year-on-year in February, after growing by 2% in January, the statistical office said.
The February consumer price index (CPI) slightly overshot the 1.7% expectations of Erste Group, as monthly inflation rose 0.6%, owing mostly to higher prices in the groups of communication (3.8%), alcoholic beverages and tobacco (2.5%) and food and non-alcoholic beverages (1.2%).
Serbia's average annual consumer price inflation slowed to 1.7% last year from 2.0% in 2018.