The growth in annual Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) accelerated to 3.2% y/y in July 2020, from 2.2% y/y in June 2020 slightly ahead of market expectations of 3.0%, buoyed by higher fuel prices and the annual electricity tariff hike earlier in the month. On a monthly basis, the CPI increased by 1.3%. The main contributors to the uptick in the headline were food and non-alcoholic beverages; housing and utilities; and miscellaneous goods and services categories, which increased by 4.3%, 3.2% and 6.7% y/y respectively. Collectively, these categories added 2.6 percentage points to the total. Annual transport inflation moderated to zero percent following a 0.9% contraction (up by 4.8% m/m), driven by the increase in the purchases of vehicles, despite subdued demand, as economic activity continued to reopen. Core inflation, that which excludes alcoholic beverages, fuel and energy, remained unchanged at 3.2%....
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