NICOSIA, April 30 (Xinhua) -- Cyprus' inflation went further up in April this year, marking an increase of 8.6 percent in the Harmonized Consumer Price Index (an economic indicator designed to measure over time the price evolution of goods and services purchased by households), compared to April 2021, according to provisional Eurostat data published by local media on Saturday.

       The inflation increase in the previous months this year was also high, reaching 6.2 percent in March, 5.8 percent in February and 4 percent in January.

       Eurostat said that the inflation rise was caused mostly by the increase in the prices of fuel and agricultural products, which are particularly affected by the crisis over Ukraine.

       Eurostat added that official data on the inflation in Cyprus are expected to be published by the Cyprus Statistical Service, CyStat, on May 5 and would show an increase of nearly 10 percent in the Consumer Price Index, which reflects the change in prices of goods affecting mainly the consumers.

       CyStat, in its previous monthly report, said that the Consumer Price Index in March 2022 increased by 1.94 units to reach 107.78 units compared to 105.84 units in February 2022.

       It said the increase on a yearly basis amounted to 7.1 percent.

       For the period of January-March 2022, the Consumer Price Index increased by 6.4 percent compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, CyStat said.

       The Cypriot government has turned down suggestions, mostly by consumer associations and trade unions, to intervene so as to keep down the prices of essential items, saying that they were up to now justified by the rise of prices in international markets

       Even before the publication of the provisional inflation data for April, Finance Minister Constantinos Petrides said he was concerned over the dangers for the Cypriot economy as a result of the effects of rising prices of essential goods.

       He said he feared a repetition of the 1973 fuel prices "stagflation" crisis, which led to a high inflation amid a recession of the economy.

       The International Monetary Fund said last week that Cyprus' gross domestic product (GDP) growth would slow to around 2 percent in 2022, down from a 5.5 percent growth in 2021, reflecting mainly the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the shock from higher energy and food prices.

       CyStat said last week that Cyprus' GDP for 2021 was estimated at 23.437 billion euros, marking a growth 8.4 percent at current market prices.