Eurostat, the statistics office of the European Union, revealed on Tuesday that eurozone consumer inflation has fallen slightly from its initial estimates for the month of August. Still, it remains more than twice as high as the European Central Bank’s inflation target.
According to Eurostat, consumer inflation across the 20 countries sharing the euro currency was 0.5% month-on-month in August and 5.2% year-on-year. This is lower than the 5.3% year-on-year flash estimate reported on August 31.
Slovak ECB policymaker Peter Kazimir stated on Monday that the ECB’s decision last Thursday to continue raising its interest rates may have been the last for a while. Still, Kazimir warned that ECB policymakers have not ruled out the possibility of further interest rates in their entirety.
In August, expensive services added 2.41 percentage points to the final consumer inflation number, while food, alcohol, and tobacco added another 1.98 percentage points. Industrial goods added 1.19 points.