Inflation grows to 1.6 percent on energy price hike
Inflation rebounded in October 2012, reaching 1.6 percent, against 0.9 percent in September, mostly due to the rise in the retail price of heating oil. Still, this figure is considerably lower than the level of the consumer price index in October 2011, when it stood at 3 percent, according to Hellenic Statistical Authority figures released on Friday.
Inflation averaged out at 1.6 percent in the year?s first 10 months, against a forecast for 1.1 percent for the whole of the year.
Out of the 34 basic items in the so-called household basket, there were 14 that showed a price rise on an annual basis, with heating oil soaring 45.2 percent due to the increase in the special consumption tax. The second highest rise was in natural gas, whose price leapt 17 percent, followed by electricity (16.3 percent) and air tickets (16 percent).
More surprisingly, prices in several food categories have also gone up compared with October 2011: Potatoes have risen by 9.4 percent, vegetables by 3 percent, meat, dairy products and eggs by 1.7 percent, and fish by 1.5 percent. Going down were hotel rates (9.2 percent), domestic services (8 percent), drugs (5.8 percent), audiovisual equipment (5.6 percent), entertainment services (4.5 percent) and domestic appliances (4.4 percent).
