...the Slovak Statistics Office said on Tuesday. **************************************************************** KEY POINTS: SLOVAK EU-NORM INFLATION SEPT 07 SEPT 07 FORECAST pct change mo/mo +0.3 +0.1 pct change yr/yr +1.7 +1.6 (Details of Sept inflation data .............[ID:nPRG000543]) - Food and non-alcoholic beverages, which have a strong weighting in the consumer price basket, rise by 0.8 percent month-on-month, after a 1.0 percent drop in August. - Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels prices, which pushed inflation up last year, rise by 0.1 percent on the month in September, after a 0.1 percent increase in August. - Annual price growth in the housing category, which has the strongest weighting in the basket, was 2.7 percent in September. - Transportation prices fall by 0.1 percent month-on-month, after 0.5 percent growth in August. MARKET REACTION: - The Slovak crown was at 33.680 per euro as of 0705 GMT, compared with 33.670 before the data release. It closed at 33.735 on Monday. BACKGROUND: - The central bank follows inflation calculated by the EU methodology as a part of Slovakia's plan to adopt the euro in 2009. - Prices under the local methodology rose 0.2 percent on the month in September, putting the annual rate at 2.8 percent. - Slovakia aims to meet all criteria for euro adoption in 2008. The central bank predicts the EU-norm inflation rate of 1.5 percent at the end of 2007. - The central bank cut its key two-week repo rate by 25 basis points in March and April, bringing it to the current 4.25 percent, after the rising crown tightened monetary conditions and helped improve inflation outlook. - The bank left the interest rates unchanged in September. LINKS: - For further details on September inflation and other past data, Reuters 3000 Xtra users can click on the Slovak Statistics Office's website: http://wwww.statistics.sk/webdata/english/index2_a.htm - For LIVE Slovak economic data releases, click on...... - Schedule of upcoming indicator releases............ - Summary of short-term economic data forecasts...... - Stories on Slovak currency moves........................[SKK/] - Slovak speed money guide ................................ - Slovak benchmark state bond prices ................. - Slovak forward money market rates ....................
[BRATISLAVA/Reuters/Finance.cz]