National inflation breaches 70% in August

• Soaring food prices and electricity price revisions hit consumers hard 

The national index of consumer prices for August notched above 70 percent, as the sharp electricity tariff revision, which came into effect from the start of the month, hit the consumer wallets hard on top of the soaring food prices. 

According to the National Consumer Price Index (NCPI), which measures how much people spend on a selected basket of goods and services, surged to 70.2 percent in August on a year-on-year basis, accelerating from 66.7 percent through July.

However, the monthly prices decelerated to 2.5 percent, from 5.6 percent in July, in a potential sign of peak inflation. 

Another round of price increases could come from the 15 percent Value Added Tax and 2.5 percent Social Security Contribution Levy, which according to tax experts, could raise the prices by at least 22 percent, due to the cascading effect of the latter when both taxes are taken together. 

The Central Bank expressed hope in August that the prices could peak in September before starting to ease thereafter, based on its inflation forecasts, provided the global commodities prices do not offer any shocks. 

In recent times, the global oil prices have retreated from their highs reached in the immediate aftermath of the Ukraine-Russia war, due to the mounting concerns of a global economic slowdown in response to the synchronised monetary tightening by the global central banks. 

Meanwhile, the food prices rose by 84.6 percent, compared to 82.5 percent in July while the changes in prices measured monthly decelerated to 1.7 percent, from 4.6 percent in July. 

The non-food inflation surged by 57.1 percent in August, accelerating from 52.4 percent in July amid a sharp upward hike in electricity tariffs. The monthly price increase however eased to 3.2 percent, from 6.7 percent in July. 

The so-called core prices measured barring the often-volatile items such as food, energy and transport accelerated in August to 60.5 percent, from 57.3 percent in July.