July inflation rate picks up marginally
Consumer price inflation picked up slightly in July to an annual pace of 0.6 percent, versus 0.5 percent in June. Data from the National Statistics Service (NSS) showed yesterday that the impact of higher fuel prices was mostly offset by lower food and beverage, durable goods and apparel prices. Consumer price growth in the 16-nation eurozone dropped to 0.6 percent year-on-year in July, the second month of negative inflation since the creation of the single-currency bloc in 1999, according to Eurostat flash estimates. ‘The slight rise is due to an increase in the price of gasoline by 3.2 percent, which had a 0.12 percent impact on the CPI index. As things stand, inflation should be slightly higher in August by 0.1 or 0.2 percent,’ said NSS chief Manolis Kontopyrakis.
