Bruxelles, 31/08/2015 (Agence Europe) - Eurozone annual inflation remained stable at 0.2% in August compared to July, according to a flash estimate published by the statistical office of the EU (Eurostat) on Monday 31 August.
In August, the main components of inflation were food, alcohol and tobacco (1.2%, compared to 0.9% in July), services (1.2%, unchanged from July), non-energy industrial goods (0.6%, compared to 0.4% in July). However, energy prices fell sharply over the same period (-7.1%, compared to -5.6% in July).
Addressing this weekend's annual symposium of central bankers in Jackson Hole (United States), the vice-president of the ECB, Vítor Costâncio, said that the European institution's accommodating monetary policy would allow it to meet its target of inflation close to but below 2% in the medium term. “The link between inflation and real activity appears to have strengthened in the euro area recently. Provided our policies are able to significantly reduce the output gap, we can rely on a material effect to help bring the inflation rate closer to target”, he said.
As of 21 August, the ECB had bought back nearly €280 billion worth of securities of national and supranational entities. European-style quantitative easing, which has been in place since March, aims to buy back €60 billion worth of public and private securities every month until September 2016. The next meeting of the ECB Governing Council will take place on Thursday 3 September. (Mathieu Bion)