Eurozone inflation in March was slightly lower than previously reported, the EU’s statistical office Eurostat reported, but remains at record highs due to rising energy prices.
The Eurostat statistical office pointed out that consumer prices in the 19 countries that share the euro increased 2.4% per month in March, which represents an annual increase of 7.4 percent.
An earlier estimate from Eurostat put March inflation at 2.5% from the previous month and at 7.5% annually.
Eurostat detailed that, of the annual total, 4.36 percentage points are due to the increase in energy prices, while 1.12 points come from the increase in the cost of services and 1.07 points from food, alcohol and tobacco.
The European Central Bank (ECB) wants to keep inflation at 2% in the medium term and has assured that it will tighten its monetary policy by ending its bond purchase program by the end of this year and moving towards a subsequent rate increase.
Energy prices were 44.4% higher than a year earlier in March, according to Eurostat, while unprocessed food cost 7.8% more.
However, excluding these two components, which are usually the most volatile, from the inflation measurements, the annual measurement was 3.2% in March, well above the monetary authority’s target. In this context of high inflation, the ECB would have to cut its growth prospects.