Baltic inflation rates continue to fall

RIGA - Inflation rates in the Baltic states continued to fall in September, with Latvian, Estonian and Lithuanian year-on-year rates reaching 15.9 percent, 13.9 percent and 11 percent, respectively.

The Latvian central statistics office said that consumer prices in the country grew by 1.1 percent in September.

In September prices rose by 0.9 percent for goods and by 1.7 percent for services, while over the past years prices surged 14.5 percent for goods and 15.9 percent for services.

In month-on-month comparison, the Latvian consumer price index in September was mainly influenced by price hikes for footwear and clothing, education and catering services, as well as a drop in fuel prices. Over the past 12 months, meanwhile, food products kept the consumer price index down 0.39 percentage points, as food prices showed a considerably smaller increase than a year ago.

In Estonia, consumer prices rose by 0.6 percent from August and in comparison with the same month a year ago the price rise slowed to 10.5 percent.

The September inflation is largely due to a 22 percent jump in the prices of tobacco products caused by the excise duty hike in summer. The rise in tobacco prices accounts for nearly two-thirds of the monthly inflation.

The impact of domestic economy factors on price pressure continues weakening supported by the slowing wage growth. The rise in the prices of services has slowed from 11 percent at the beginning of the year to 8.7 percent. A 2.9 percent drop in rentals in September reflects the slump in the real estate segment, the central bank said.

In Lithuania, meanwhile, the rise of consumer prices mostly resulted on a 3.8 percent increase in the prices of clothes and footwear and a 0.4 percent growth in food prices. The rise was slightly offset by a 1.8 percent decline in the prices of communication goods and services and a 1 percent drop in the prices of leisure and culture.

Compared with August, the prices of consumer goods notched up by 0.6 percent in September, while the prices of consumer services edged up 0.2 percent.