Greek deflation persists for another month
Greece’s annual European Union-harmonized inflation rate stayed negative in April for the second month in a row after a positive reading in February, statistics service data showed on Tuesday.
The reading in April was -0.4 percent, easing from -0.7 percent in March.
Consumer prices were led lower by housing costs, durable goods, foods and non-alcoholic beverages, apparel and footwear.
Economists polled by Reuters were expecting a -0.6 percent EU-harmonized inflation rate in April.
The data also showed the headline consumer price index fell 1.3 percent year-on-year, with the annual pace of deflation easing from -1.5 percent in March.
For years an inflation outlier in the eurozone, Greece has been in deflation mode for the last two and a half years as wage and pension cuts and a protracted recession took a heavy toll on Greek household income.
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]
