August consumer prices rise 0.6% on the month, 2.2% on the year

TIRANA, September 8؁lbania’s August consumer price index (CPI) rose by 0.6% month-on-month, after dropping by a monthly 0.7% in July, the National Statistics Office, INSTAT, said on Tuesday.
On an annual basis, the country’s consumer price inflation was 2.2% in August, INSTAT said in its monthly report.
The monthly CPI increase in August 2009 was mainly due to a 8.2% rise in the prices of vegetables, and a 3.8%gain in fruit prices.
The annual rise in consumer prices was mainly due to a 30.6% increase in the prices of vegetables and a 13.9% rise in fruit prices.
The country’s CPI reached 102.4 points in August compared to its base of 100 points in December 2007. In August 2008 consumer prices rose by 0.6% on the month and were 2.5% higher on the year.
Albania targets an average annual inflation rate of 3.0% in 2009. In 2008 Albania’s average inflation accelerated to 3.4% from 2.9% in 2007.