UPDATE 1 - Romania August CPI rises 0.51% m/m, up 3.88% y/y - table

In annual terms inflation quickened to 3.88% last month from 3.0% in July, Romania's statistics office, INS, said in a statement.

The average monthly inflation was 0.3% in the January-August period, unchanged from a year earlier.

"The rise in food price on the global and domestic market due to adverse weather conditions was an important inflationary driver," Erste Group Research said in a note.

Food prices gained 0.67% on the month in August, mainly due to a 9.38% rise in the prices of potatoes and an 8.59% increase in beans prices. Fresh fruit prices dropped 11.9% on the month.

Non-food prices picked up a monthly 0.54% in August, mainly due to 2.01% increase in fuel prices.

Tariffs in the services were up by 0.12% month-on-month.

"According to our model, inflation rate will temporarily overshoot the central bank’s target in September and will reach 4.4% due to a lower agricultural output, new hikes in administered prices and deteriorated consumer inflation expectations," Erste Group Research said.

"Our inflation forecast for December 2012 is 4.0%, the upper limit of the central bank’s target," it added.

Romania's August consumer prices (pct change):

Romania's end-2011 inflation slowed down to 3.14% from nearly 8.0% in 2010. The country's central bank forecasts 3.2% inflation at end-2012.