Tiraspol, April 16. /Novosti Pridnestrovya/. In March, the cost of a standard set of consumer goods and services increased by 0.5%. This is 0.1 percentage points below the February level, but a comparable amount above the level of March last year. The Pridnestrovian Republican Bank reports this with reference to the State Statistics Service. At the end of the first quarter, the consolidated consumer price index amounted to 102.1%, which is 0.9 p.p. more than the value recorded a year earlier. The increase in prices since the beginning of the year was also observed in the markets of partner countries: + 1.8% in Moldova, + 2.1% in Russia, + 3.8% in Belarus, + 4.1% in Ukraine.
In the republic, the main contribution to the March inflation was made by the price increases in some food products caused by price increases in importing countries. Thus, sunflower oil, which is mainly imported from Ukraine, has gone up 11.3%.
Sugar prices increased by 1.7%, which was largely due to the rise in prices for this product in Ukraine (+ 4.8%), its main supplier. In March, prices for fruits and vegetables also increased (+ 1.9%), influenced by the seasonal factor.
A poor harvest of last year continues to influence the rise in prices for cereals and legumes (+ 1.7%), as well as flour (+ 0.6%) and pasta (+ 0.3%).
Upward pressure on prices prevailed for the majority of animal products, although a year earlier, in March, their prices had already begun to decline. At the end of March, prices increased for meat (+ 0.2%) and fish (+ 0.4%) products, butter (+ 0.1%) and eggs (+ 6.4%). A significant increase in egg prices is also due to the high degree of import dependence on the Pridnestrovian market.
At the same time, prices for some food products have declined. These are milk (- 0.1%), cheese (- 0.2%) and honey (- 1.7%).
For non-food products, the composite index formed at the level of 100.2% (against 99.8% a year earlier) in March. One of the main factors that influenced price increases was the continuing rise in the price of tobacco products for the tenth month (+ 1.3%). The same trend was observed in partner countries.
Against the background of rising prices for pharmaceutical products in Belarus (+ 1.7%), in Ukraine (+ 0.6%), in Russia (+ 0.3%) and Moldova (+ 0.2%), the average cost of the registered list of medicines included in the inflation calculation increased by 0.8% in March.
Also, an increase in prices (within 0.1-0.4%) occurred for detergents, perfumery and cosmetics, household and paper and fair products, household chemicals, furniture, television and radio goods and building materials. For other categories (including petroleum) prices were at the level of February or slightly lower. At the same time, fuel prices in Russia increased by 1.1%, in Belarus - by 2.2%, in Ukraine - by 5.7%.
On average, tariffs in the service sector also remained unchanged in March. The cost of most services (medical, educational, transportation and communication services) has not been revised.
An exception was tariff increases for liquefied gas (+ 3.0%) in housing and communal services segment. In the market services sector, against an overall relatively stable background, an increase in prices for dry cleaning services (+ 1.0%) and laundry (+ 0.7%), as well as for banking services (+ 0.1%) was recorded.
In partner countries, tariffs for transport services (+ 1.6% in Russia, + 1.1% in Ukraine, + 0.5% in Moldova), medical (from + 0.3% in Moldova and Russia to 1, 5% in Belarus) and educational services (from + 0.1% in Russia to + 0.6% in Belarus, excluding Moldova (-0.4%)) increased.
