Spanish Economy Minister Pedro Solbes on Saturday predicted a fall in oil prices in the "next weeks or months" and voiced hope Spanish inflation at year-end would be "clearly below" the estimated 3.4 percent hit in May.
Solbes was commenting on an estimate released on Friday showing that Spanish harmonised consumer price inflation surged for the second month in a row in May as rising energy prices pushed it to a 14-month high of 3.4 percent.
Oil prices soared recently to a US record $41.85 a barrel although the price has fallen slightly as Opec will consider a big increase in output limits at a meeting in Beirut on June 3.
"We should think, at least in the next weeks or months, of a reduction of the very high (oil) prices ... to more reasonable prices, very close to or within the range proposed by Opec," Solbes told reporters.
Opec's target price range of $22-$28 a barrel was introduced in 2000 but the price has been above this range all this year.
"If oil prices behave reasonably ... and we return to a more normal food price situation, it would be logical for inflation to fall gradually throughout the year," Solbes said.
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