This downward trend confirms that inflation in the eurozone is approaching the ECB’s target of 2% and brings the first interest rate cut closer, which the market is already placing at the June meeting with a high probability.
Eurozone inflation fell by two-tenths to 2.4% in March, the same decline as that observed in the European Union as a whole, which ended the month at a rate of 2.6%, according to statistics from Eurostat’s community office .
The statistics department thus confirms its preliminary calculations for the annual inflation rate of the eurozone for the past month underlyingwhich excludes energy, food and tobacco and is the reference for the European Central Bank (ECB), also fell by two-tenths to 2.9%.
The eurozone has therefore seen three months of declines in average inflation since the increase of five-tenths in December 2023, to 2.9%. Since then, the price increase has been 2.8% in January, 2.6% in February and 2.4% in March.
This downward trend confirms that the Eurozone inflation is approaching the 2% target that the ECB pursues with its restrictive monetary policy The first interest rate drop is approachingwhich the market already places with a high probability during the meeting in June.
Currently, the bank led by France’s Christine Lagarde maintains the cash rate at 4.50%, the highest level since 2001, after raising it ten times between July 2022 and September 2023 in a range of 0.25 to 0.75 points .
Inflation by category
The details of the Eurostat data for March show that the highest inflation by category was that of Servicesat a rate of 4%, which is identical to what it has experienced since November last year.
After the services were the processed foods, alcohol and tobacco (at a rate of 3.5%, a decrease of one percentage point compared to February) and industrial goods excluding energy (1.1% compared to 1.6% in February).
On the other hand, the price of Energy continued negative interest rates in MarchThis time 1.8% compared to the drop of 3.7% in February.
By country, the highest inflation last month was Romania (6.7%), followed by Croatia (4.9%), Estonia and Austria (4.1%), Belgium (3.8%), Hungary (3, 6%), Greece and Slovenia (3.4%). %), Spain (3.3%), Luxembourg (3.2%), Bulgaria and the Netherlands (3.1%) and Malta, Poland and Slovakia (2.7%).
Portugal’s percentage was on the EU average (2.6%), and below this were France (2.4%), Germany and Sweden (2.3%), the Czech Republic (2.2%), Ireland (1, 7%) and Cyprus (1.6%). , Italy (1.2%), Latvia (1%), Denmark (0.8%), Finland (0.6%) and Lithuania (0.4%).
Source: EITB
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
