OREANDA-NEWS. September 09, 2011. According to Statistics Estonia, the consumer price index went up by 0.3% in August, having increased 5.5%, year-on-year. Inflation in the euro area slowed to 2.5%, reported the press-centre of Eesti Pank.

Monopolies once again accounted for a considerable share of the August price rise. The 8.3% price hike of electricity increased the cost of the consumer basket by 0.3%. Sewerage services went up 2.9% in price. Since there are no competitive pressures, the price setting of monopolies should be made more transparent.

Unrest in financial markets has passed through to commodity markets, causing more intensive price fluctuations. The volatility of commodity prices may make price setting more difficult at the start of the supply chain, but it has not put an additional upward pressure on consumer prices compared to the start of the year. The Estonian economy has close ties with the rest of the euro area, where inflation expectations have stayed close to the objective of keeping inflation below, but close to 2% over the medium term.

After the adoption of the euro, more and more prices end in nine cents as a result of psychological price setting. According to the Consumer Protection Board, such prices made up about a tenth in January and already as much as a third in August. However, the impact of such price setting on inflation is not very strong.