Deflation in Slovakia, highest inflation of the EU in Hungary

In January 2010, the lowest annual rates were observed in Latvia (-3.3%), Ireland (-2.4%) and Estonia (-1.0%), and the highest in Hungary (6.2%), Romania (5.2%) and Poland (3.9%). Compared with December 2009, annual inflation rose in seventeen EU member states, remained stable in one and fell in nine.The Visegrad countries are in a rather different situation:

• Slovakia is one of the least competitive members of the eurozone, and it is already in a -0.2 deflation;
• Poland, the only EU state to grow in 2009 has a relatively high inflation that does not put any competitive pressure on the rather healthy domestic economy;
• The Czech Republic remains rather stable, although it is also close to deflation;
• Hungary has the highest inflation rate, 6.2% in the European Union while the highest public deficit was radically cut during the economic crisis, pushing the economy into one of the deepest recession in the world economy.