Serbia: Inflation ticks up a notch in January
Consumer prices jumped 0.6% month-on-month in January, up from December’s 0.5% rise. The print was largely driven by a sharp increase in prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages and a smaller increase in transport costs. Conversely, prices for clothing and footwear, restaurant and hotels, and communication fell in the month.
Inflation edged up to 2.0% in January from 1.9% in December, moving further within the lower half of the Central Bank’s target band of 3.0% plus or minus 1.5 percentage points. On the other hand, core inflation—which excludes the more volatile components energy, food, alcohol and tobacco—edged down to 1.0% in January from 1.1% in December. Meanwhile, annual average inflation was stable at 1.9% in January.