Albania’s Consumer Price Index rises

TIRANA, Dec. 10 – Albania’s November consumer price index (CPI) rose by 0.2 month-on-month, after falling by 0.1% in October, the National Statistics Office (INSTAT) said on Monday. On an annual basis, the country’s consumer price inflation slowed down to 3.5% in November from 4.2% a month earlier, INSTAT said in its monthly report.
In November 2006, consumer prices rose by 0.9% on the month and were 2.9% higher on the year. The monthly increase was largely due to a rise by 2.0% in the prices of shoes and by 1.4% in bread and wheat products. A drop of 6.1% was recorded in the prices of fruits, the report data showed. Year-on-year, the inflation acceleration was mainly due to a 23.5% rise in the prices of bread and wheat products, a 11.7% rise in processed fruit and a 12.1% rise in water prices.
The inflation slowdown, as compared to October when the CPI was 4.2% higher on the year, was mainly due to a 4.6% fall in vegetable prices and a 2.6% drop in the prices of sugar and sugar products. CPI reached 114.2 points in November compared to its base of 100 points in December 2001. In October the index measured 114.0 points. Albania targets an average annual inflation rate of 3.0% for 2007. The average annual inflation rate for last year is estimated at 2.36%, compared to 2.4% in 2005.