Year-on-year inflation in Bulgaria rose to a new 10-year high of 14.6 per cent in April, according to the preliminary data released by the National Statistical Institute (NSI) on May 13 2008.

April inflation was 0.9 per cent, edging higher from 0.8 per cent a month earlier. Food prices remained the main driver of inflation, rising by 1.3 per cent for the month. Services prices went up by 0.2 per cent and non-food goods were 0.8 per cent higher.

Harmonised inflation, the figure calculated by the statistics board for comparison with inflation in the European Union, was 0.7 per cent in April and 13.6 per cent year-on-year, compared with 0.9 per cent for the month and 13.2 per cent year-on-year in March.

The Cabinet targets reducing harmonised inflation figure to 4.5 per cent for the year.

Officials have blamed last year's drought and floods for the rising food prices, which grew by more than 20 per cent in 2007, causing inflation to overshoot the Government's original 4.4 per cent target for 2007. End-year inflation was 12.5 per cent.

High inflation is one of the main obstacles preventing Bulgaria from adopting the common European currency, the European Central Bank (ECB) said last week.