Serbia: Inflation increases in May
Consumer prices rose 0.50% over the previous month in May, moderating from the 1.10% rise recorded in April. The cooling of price pressures was primarily driven by dropping prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages.
Inflation came in at 3.6% in May, which was up from April’s 2.8%. May’s figure marked the highest inflation rate since April 2017. Meanwhile, the trend pointed up slightly, with annual average inflation coming in at 1.9% in May (April: 1.7%). Lastly, harmonized inflation rose to 3.5% in May, from the previous month’s 2.6%.
Analysts at The EIU commented:
“Aggregate demand and commodity prices will firm in 2021-22 amid a rebound in activity and a mild global reflationary trend. Inflated base effects in energy and food prices, as well as temporary disruption to global supply chains, will drive fluctuations in headline inflation this year. However, a weakened labour market and subdued inflation expectations among domestic price-setters point to modest underlying price pressures.”