Serbia: Inflation reaches over one-year high in March
According to the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia, consumer prices rose 0.4% over the prior month in March, down from the 0.7% increase logged in February. The uptick was chiefly driven by a surge in prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages and transport, whereas lower prices for clothing and footwear partly offset the rise.
Inflation accelerated to 2.8% in March from 2.4% in February, representing a fifteen-month high and coming in just below the midpoint of the Central Bank’s target range of 3.0% plus or minus 1.5 percentage points. Core inflation, which excludes prices for volatile items such as food, energy, alcohol and cigarettes, meanwhile was stable at February’s 1.3% in March. Annual average inflation meanwhile inched up to 2.2% in March from 2.1% in February.