2018.11.0809:47:00UTC+00Hungary Inflation At 6-year High

Hungary's consumer price inflation accelerated further in October to its highest level in almost six years, preliminary data from the Hungarian Central Statistical Office showed on Thursday. The consumer price index rose 3.8 percent year-on-year following a 3.6 percent increase in September. Economists had expected the rate to remain unchanged at 3.6 percent.

The importance of this reading is that it is well above the central bank's expectation of 3.3 percent, ING Bank economist Peter Virovacz said. In the past three months, inflation overshot the National Bank of Hungary's forecast by 0.23ppt on average, he observed. "Today's data won't trigger any prompt move by the central bank," Virovacz said. "However, it is definitely likely to raise some eyebrows as the NBH's underlying inflationary measures has also been ticking higher recently."

Core inflation, which excludes energy and fresh food, was 2.6 percent in October, which faster than the 2.2 percent in September. Compared to the previous month, the CPI climbed 0.5 percent, which was faster than the 0.3 percent increase economists had predicted. The core CPI rose 0.3 percent from the previous month.