ECONOMY

Greek consumer price index rises to 1.7 pct in March

Greek consumer price index rises to 1.7 pct in March

Greece’s annual headline consumer price index picked up to 1.7 percent year-on-year in March, statistics service data showed on Monday, from 1.3 percent in the previous month and 1.2 in January, when it emerged from a protracted deflation trend.

The data also showed the EU-harmonized inflation rate accelerated, with the reading coming in slightly above market expectations.

The reading in March was 1.7 percent from 1.4 percent in February.

Consumer prices were led higher by housing, transportation costs, alcoholic beverages and tobacco.

Economists polled by Reuters were forecasting a 1.5 percent print.

For years an inflation outlier in the eurozone, Greece had been in a protracted deflation mode since March 2013 based on its headline index, as wage and pension cuts and a multi-year recession took a heavy toll on Greek household incomes.

Deflation in Greece, which signed up to its first international bailout in 2010, hit its highest level in November 2013, when consumer prices registered a 2.9 percent year-on-year decline.

[Reuters]

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