The National Bank of Moldova forecast an annual inflation rate of 6.5% for 2017, down 0.3 percentage points from the rate forecast in May. In 2018, the annual rate of inflation will be 4.4% (-0.7%), IPN reports.

National Bank governor Sergiu Cioclea told a news conference that the inflation rate will remain high in the third quarter of this year too and will then decrease to the lower limit of the variation interval of the inflation target of 5%, plus-minus 1.5%.

The annual average rate of inflation in the second quarter of 2017 was of 7.1%, up 2.8% from the rate recorded in the first quarter.

Sergiu Cioclea said the basic annual rate of inflation will be stable throughout the period covered by the forecast and will oscillate around the central bank’s inflation target.

Among the risk factors that could distort the inflation, the governor mentioned the rise in foods that go up internationality, including as a result of the drought or floods. These phenomena affected Moldova’s agriculture as well.

The prices of food products are expected to decline in the second half of 2018 or, more exactly, at the end of the year. In 2018, the electricity tariffs could also decrease.