Inflation Eased by Half a Percent in June, but Over a Year the Cost of Living Is Up 3.4 Percent

The State Statistical Office released figures that sound like relief - but only if you don't look too far back. The cost of living in June fell by 0.5 percent month-on-month compared to May. Food got cheaper, and at first glance your wallet catches its breath.

The problem is the annual picture. Compared to the same month last year, the cost of living is up 3.4 percent, and retail prices rose 3.6 percent. In other words, the monthly drop is a tiny pause in an upward line that's been climbing for years. A single half-percent cut doesn't give back the money inflation ate over the previous months - it just means prices didn't rise this month.

When you look at what climbed the most year-on-year, the picture gets concrete. Alcohol and tobacco top the list with a 9.3 percent increase, followed by transport at 6.2 percent. Food and non-alcoholic drinks went up 2.5 percent, and housing, water, electricity, and communications rose almost as much. Furniture and household equipment climbed 4.2 percent. So - just about everything a person has to buy to live.

The official message will be that inflation is easing, and statistically that's true for June. But the family filling a basket every week doesn't feel the statistics - it feels the total sum of twenty-plus months of price hikes. When the government brags about a monthly drop, it's worth asking: compared to what? If prices fell half a percent after jumping some ten percent in a year, that's not a victory - it's a breather. The question is whether it's followed by real calm or just a new cycle upward.