Consumer prices rose by 1 percent year-on-year in the month of October 2016, and thus the overall rate of inflation in the initial ten months of the year was 0.2 percent.

Low inflation rates preserve the value of wages and pensions, which in turn boost consumption and economic growth.

Recent data show that subdued inflation persists. In the past six years, the inflation rate averaged 2.4 percent per year, albeit fluctuations did occur. While consumer prices rose by some 5 percent in 2010, as a consequence of public utility price cuts this indicator showed an increase of 1.7 percent in 2013, and it has been around 0 percent since 2014.

The latest data confirm that the full-year inflation rate will be around 0.4 percent, as predicted by the Convergence Programme.

(Ministry for National Economy)