ZCZC
BCN-05
GERMANY-INFLATION
German inflation slows in December
BERLIN, Dec 29, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Inflation in Germany eased sharply in
December, according to preliminary data published Friday, marking a second
month of slowing price gains.
Consumer prices rose 1.7 percent year-on-year, said federal statistics
authority Destatis in a statement.
This was markedly weaker than the 2.0 percent predicted by analysts and
the 2.3 percent posted in November.
December’s slowdown in price gains was down mainly to smaller bumps in
energy and food prices.
Energy prices had climbed 4.8 percent in December compared to a leap of
9.3 percent in November.
And food prices rose just 1.0 percent, easing further from the 1.4 percent
recorded in November.
In comparison, growth in rental prices held steady at 1.5 percent.
The data came after the European Central Bank announced the end of its
“quantitative easing” programme that has seen it pump 2.6 trillion euros ($3
trillion) into the eurozone economy to stoke growth and inflation.
The ECB originally began buying debt in 2015, saying it wanted to fight
the threat of deflation and keep money flowing around the eurozone economy.
Growth has picked up since then, surging in 2017 before falling back this
year, but forecasts see inflation falling short of the central bank’s target
of close to, but below 2.0 percent.
According to the latest ECB forecasts, inflation for the eurozone should
dip from 1.8 percent this year to 1.6 percent in 2019, before mounting back
to 1.8 percent in 2021.
BSS/AFP/HR/0905