Inflation was 12.3% y/y and 0.2% m/m in September 2021
Annual CPI inflation retreated to 12.3% in September 2021, after a 12.8% inflation in previous month, according to Geostat. Core inflation (non-food, non-energy) was 6.3% and core inflation excluding tobacco was also 6.3% in September. By categories, annual inflation was mainly driven by price changes in food and non-alcoholic beverages (+15.9% y/y, +4.99ppts), transport (+20.3% y/y, +2.47ppts), housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (+11.8% y/y, +1.74ppts), health (+9.2% y/y, +0.72ppts), furnishings, household equipment and maintenance (+12.5% y/y, +0.66ppts) and restaurants and hotels (+10.7% y/y, +0.61ppts) categories. On a monthly basis, there was a 0.2% inflation in September 2021, reflecting price increase in education (+4.3% y/y, +0.18ppts) category. (We provided a detailed outlook of inflation and other macro indicators in our economic update of 6 October).
International reserves at US$ 4.1bn in September 2021
Gross international reserves increased by 8.3% y/y to US$ 4.1bn in September 2021 according to NBG. On a monthly basis, the reserves were down by 1.0% (-US$ 40.0mn), reflecting sale of US$ 60mn by NBG in September via FX auction. Other changes in reserves were attributed to the government and banking sector FX operations, and/or asset revaluation.
