Slovakia's annual inflation rate remained steady in June at 4.6 per cent, a 20-month peak recorded in May, according to the data released by Slovak statisticians Thursday. Consumer prices grew 0.4 per cent monthly, the Slovak Statistical Office said. The hike was chiefly fueled by rising food prices, the statisticians said according to DPA. According to preliminary Eurostat estimates, inflation in the 15-member Eurozone - which Slovakia enters on January 1, 2009 - surged to a record 4 per cent in June, due to skyrocketing food and energy prices. Slovakia has pledged to keep consumer prices in check in order to get the European Union's nod to adopt the bloc's common currency. EU finance ministers on Tuesday approved a conversion rate of 30.126 Slovak koruny per euro, a success for Slovakia's center-left government of Prime Minister Robert Fico. The economy in the ex-communist central European country has grown at a record pace in recent years, following an influx of foreign automotive investors.
