Eurozone inflation back in positive territory
- In any case, inflation in Europe remains way off the target of the European Central Bank of just under two percent.
BRUSSELS: Eurozone consumer prices rose in January for the first time since July, official data said on Wednesday, stoked by rising costs in Germany, Europe's biggest economy.
The Eurostat agency said inflation in the 19 countries that use the euro hit 0.9 percent at the start of 2021, a big leap from the negative 0.3 percent rate a month earlier.
The closely watched core inflation rate, which strips out highly fluctuating prices such as energy and food, also jumped, reaching 1.4 percent, Eurostat said.
Along with Germany, France and Spain saw consumer prices go back into positive territory, although analysts caution that the extraordinary circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic make inflation difficult to measure.
In any case, inflation in Europe remains way off the target of the European Central Bank of just under two percent.
To fight the slump in demand and boost prices, the European Central Bank has bolstered its emergency pandemic bond-buying programme to 1.85 trillion euros ($2.24 trillion).
The fresh data has little chance of reversing the aid from the Frankfurt-based institution.
ECB chief Christine Lagarde warned last month that the pandemic still poses "serious risks" to the eurozone economy and that "ample monetary stimulus" remained essential.
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