PRAGUE, July 10 (Xinhua) -- Year-on-year inflation in the Czech Republic accelerated to 2.9 percent in June from 2.4 percent in May, the highest so far this year, the Czech Statistical Office (CSU) said on Thursday.
The growth was mainly driven by higher food, fuel and housing prices. According to the CSU, the biggest influence on the growth of the year-on-year price level in June came from prices in "food and non-alcoholic beverages," where prices of meat increased by 5.9 percent year-on-year in June, eggs by 40.4 percent and semi-skimmed milk by 13.1 percent.
"Consumer prices in June accelerated their year-on-year growth to 2.9 percent, which was the highest value from the December last year. This development, as traditionally, came mainly from prices of food and fuels, partly also by last year's lower comparison base," Pavla Sediva, head of Consumer Price Statistics Unit of CSU, said in a statement.
Commenting on the June data, the Czech National Bank (CNB) said the rise in the inflation rate "was anticipated and is not expected to continue."
"Inflation has been fluctuating this year, mainly due to food, beverage and tobacco prices. The increase in June was also driven by this factor. However, growth in food prices should gradually subside in the coming months," it said in a statement.
Petr Sklenar, head of the CNB's monetary department, said in the statement that inflationary pressures were still lingering. "Combined with volatile food and fuel prices, this calls for a cautious monetary policy approach," he said. ■
