BUCHAREST (Reuters) – Romania’s central bank raised its annual inflation forecast for this year, driven primarily by higher energy prices it cannot control, its quarterly inflation report showed on Friday.
The bank expects inflation at 9.6% in December, compared with a previous forecast of 5.9%. It sees inflation surging to 11.2% in the second quarter of this year after a government suport scheme for households’ energy bills ends.
The bank sees inflation at 3.2% at end-2023, back within its 1.5%-3.5% target band. Earlier this week, policymakers lifted the benchmark interest rate by a more than expected 50 basis points to 2.50%.
(Reporting by Luiza Ilie)
