PRAGUE, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- Year-on-year inflation in the Czech Republic reached 17.5 percent in July, according to data published Wednesday by the Czech Statistical Office (CSU).
This is the 13th month in a row that the Czechs have seen prices rise. However, in month-on-month terms, inflation grew at a more tolerable 1.3 percent in July -- the lowest since February.
According to the CSU, the latest rise was primarily attributed to the recreational and cultural sector, with seasonal prices for holidays rising by 23 percent.
In year-on-year terms, however, rising food and energy prices remained the major causes of inflation. Flour prices, for example, jumped 64.1 percent from last year.
"Consumer prices continued their year-on-year growth in July. The latter reached a value of 17.5 percent. Compared with last month, prices rose by 1.3 percent, which was the mildest month-on-month increase since February this year," Pavla Sediva, head of the Consumer Price Statistics Department of the CSU, said in a statement.
In its commentary on the July inflation report, the Czech National Bank (CNB) noted that the published figure is below their forecast of 18.8 percent.
Still, the CNB predicts that inflation will peak at just above 20 percent in the coming months and slow down in the next year. The bank also predicts that in the first half of 2024, inflation should decrease close to its 2 percent target. ■
