BRUSSELS: Inflation in the eurozone rose to 2.4 percent year-on-year in February from 2.3 percent in January, according to first official estimates Tuesday.
That rate was above the European Central Bank's hopes for medium-term inflation slightly below two percent across the 17-nation eurozone. The February rate marks the third successive month with inflation creeping above the two percent mark as economists speculate that the ECB will have to raise interest rates sooner or later to tame rising price.
ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet warned mid-January that if inflation continued to rise, the bank would not hesitate to bump up its base rate, which is has been at a record low one percent since May 2009.
The February rate, pushed up notably by a rise in energy prices, is the highest in the 17-nation euro area since October 2008, when it hit 3.2 percent.
It then fell to 2.1 percent in November 2008 before slipping below the two percent threshold in 2009.
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