Spanish inflation fell for the fourth consecutive month on lower electricity and fuel costs. In addition, the decline was stronger than experts on average expected.
The Spanish reading means a boost for the European Central Bank, which recently raised interest rates significantly to reduce inflation. The figure will also give confidence to the Spanish government, which recently spent record amounts on aid packages.
Consumer prices in Spain increased by 6.6% in November compared to a year ago, against 7.3% the previous month, according to the statistical institute. Economists polled by the Bloomberg news agency had expected a level of 7.1%. Core inflation, which excludes highly volatile products such as energy and food, rose to 6.3%.
Germany, the continent’s largest economy, is to release inflation data later on Tuesday. The expectation is that German price increases have also softened, but inflation will still remain in the double digits. New figures will be released from the eurozone later. The data is important for the ECB when deciding next steps on interest rates to curb unprecedented price pressure in the country’s bloc.
Source: BNR
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