RTTN:Eurozone Output Price Inflation Eases For Fourth Month
(RTTNews) - Eurozone's producer price inflation slowed for the fourth consecutive month in January, owing mainly to slower growth in prices of energy products and capital goods.
Statistical office Eurostat Friday said that output price inflation in the euro area eased to 3.7 percent in January from 4.3 percent in December, while economists expected the rate of growth to slow to 3.5 percent. Inflation eased for the fourth month in a row. Prices, excluding energy products, grew 1.9 percent from a year ago.
Energy prices grew at a slower rate of 9.2 percent in January than December's 9.4 percent rise, while the increase in capital goods prices eased to 1.3 percent from 1.6 percent. Non-durable consumer goods and durable consumer goods prices rose 3 percent and 2.4 percent respectively, while prices of intermediate goods moved up1.6 percent year-on-year during the month.
Latvia, with a 10.3 percent annual growth in output prices, made the biggest contribution to the overall increase, followed by Lithuania and Cyprus, where prices advanced 9.2 percent and 8.7 percent respectively. In the 27-nation European Union, output prices increased at a slower rate of 4.4 percent in January than 4.9 percent in December.
Compared to December, the producer price index increased 0.7 percent in January, faster than the 0.5 percent gain economists forecast. In December, prices dropped 0.2 percent month-on-month.
Consumer price inflation in the single-currency bloc increased to 2.7 percent in February from 2.6 percent in January, driven mainly by higher oil prices.
Eurozone finance ministers yesterday decided to speed up the payment to the European Stability Mechanism, the region's permanent bailout fund. They also expressed willingness to aid the crisis-stricken Greece using money from the second rescue package, on condition that Greece completes the debt write-off deal with its private lenders in the coming week.
