Vilija Tauraitė said that the rise in the consumer price index was primarily due to higher fuel prices.
"The monthly rise of more than 1 percent (in prices for transport goods and services) was a really big one. That added to the inflationary factors we've already had in previous months: rising prices for both food products and energy resources," she told BNS, commenting on the latest statistical data.
The analyst noted that the highest price increases were for staple products and services.
"February must have been a tough month, because heating bills were quite high. Given the inflation, consumption should have weakened," she said.
Monthly inflation rate in February reached 0.4 percent, marking the second successive month of rising consumer prices. The 12-month inflation rate last month was 3.7 percent and the average annual inflation rate was 4.2 percent, Statistics Lithuania said.
Both the statistics office and SEB Bankas had forecast that the EU-harmonized monthly inflation in February would be 0.3 percent.
