Georgia Inflation Eases Further In May

(RTTNews) - Georgia's consumer price inflation eased for the eighth successive month in May, though it remained strong overall, figures from the National Statistics Office of Georgia showed on Friday.

The consumer price index, or CPI, increased 1.5 percent yearly in May, following a 2.7 percent rise in April.

Prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages grew 3.3 percent annually in May. Prices for miscellaneous goods and services rose 18.4 percent. Costs of alcoholic beverages and tobacco climbed 7.1 percent.

Meanwhile, the transport costs fell 12.9 percent and the prices in the health sector dropped 7.5 percent.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices fell for the fourth month in a row, down 0.1 percent in May, following a 0.7 percent decrease in the prior month.

Further, the core inflation eased to 4.0 percent from 4.7 percent. The core inflation without tobacco slowed to 3.9 percent from 4.7 percent.

Core inflation is calculated by excluding prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages, energy, regulated tariffs, and transport from the consumer basket.