In February 2020, headline inflation was 2.2 percent the same as in January 2019, remaining below the lower bound of the Bank’s medium-term objective range of 3 – 6 percent, and lower than the 3.3 percent in February 2019. The constant inflation between January and February 2020 reflects stable prices for the “Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels” and “Health” categories of goods and services, as well as offsetting movements in the annual price changes for the rest of the commodity groups.  Inflation fell for: Transport (from 1 to 0.8 percent); Miscellaneous Goods and Services (from 5.2 to 5 percent); Education (from 4.8 to 4.7 percent); and Communication (from 0.4 to 0.3 percent). The downward pressure on inflation was partly offset by inflation increasing with respect to: Food and Non-alcoholic Beverages’ (from 3.2 to 3.5 percent); Furnishing, Household Equipment and Routine Maintenance (from 2.7 to 3 percent); Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco (from 4.8 to 5 percent); Restaurants and Hotels (from 3.6 to 3.8 percent); Clothing and Footwear (from 1.5 to 1.6 percent); and Recreation and Culture (from -0.3 to -0.2 percent).

The 16 percent trimmed mean inflation and inflation excluding administered prices remained unchanged at 1.9 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively, in the same period.