Bulgaria's consumer prices soared by 14.4% on an annual basis in April from a 12.4% increase in March, mainly due to spike in energy and food prices, data from the statistics office showed on Tuesday.

Consumer prices rose 2.5% in April on a monthly basis, after increasing by 2.2% a month earlier, the statistics office said. Under the EU-harmonised index consumer price inflation was 12.1% on the year in April. On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose by 2.1%.

Finance ministry sees the war in Ukraine and the imposed sanctions on Russia speeding the annual average inflation in the Balkan country to 10.4% this year.

The European Commission estimates Bulgarian annual inflation at 11.9% this year.

CONSUMER PRICE APRIL 2022 MARCH 2022 APRIL 2021 INFLATION M/M % CHANGE +2.5 +2.2 +0.7 Y/Y % CHANGE +14.4 +12.4 +2.0 (Reporting by Tsvetelia Tsolova)