Eurozone annual inflation accelerates to 7% in March
[ad_1]
Annual inflation in 20 eurozone countries in April accelerated to 7% after 6.9% in March, follows from the preliminary estimates Eurostat. In February, this figure was 8.5%, and in January – 8.6%.
Growth in prices for food, alcohol and tobacco slowed to 13.6% from 15.5% in March, and for non-energy manufactured goods to 6.2% from 6.6% a month earlier. The cost of services rose by 5.2% after 5.1% in March, and energy – by 2.5% after their reduction in price by 0.9% a month earlier.
At the same time, core inflation – excluding food, alcohol, tobacco and energy – returned to the February value of 5.6%. How draws At the attention of Reuters, the decrease in this indicator was recorded for the first time since June last year. The data presented by Eurostat speaks in favor of reducing the step of raising the interest rate at the next meeting of the European Central Bank (ECB) on May 4, the agency believes.
The lowest inflation rates were recorded in Luxembourg (2.7%), Belgium (3.3%) and Spain (3.8%). Prices rose the most in Latvia (15%), Slovakia (14%) and Lithuania (13.3%).
On March 16, the European Central Bank (ECB) raised its base interest rate by 50 basis points. up to 3.5%, by 50 b.p. also increased rates on deposits and on margin loans of the ECB, up to 3.75% and up to 3% respectively. This is the sixth rate increase in a row and the third one – 50 bp. n. in a row. Prior to that, in October and November, the regulator raised rates by 75 basis points at once. P.
As before wrote Vedomosti, in the Board of Governors of the ECB, called the achievement of the maximum rate by September this year the most desirable for Europe. This will allow the pan-European regulator to reach the inflation target of 2% by 2024-2025, said François Villeroy de Galo, board member and chairman of the Bank of France.
[ad_2]
Source link
