Brussels, 29/04/2016 (Agence Europe) - The annual Eurozone inflation rate was estimated at -0.2% in April, down from March when it was 0.0%, according to a flash estimate from the statistical office of the EU (Eurostat), on Friday 29 April.
This poor performance comes as the ECB is applying an even more accommodative policy. Despite the increased scope of the 'quantitative easing' operation and the fact that the interest rate has fallen into negative figures, the Frankfurt-based institute is struggling to stimulate price rises in the Eurozone in line with its mandate to achieve inflation close to but below 2% in the medium term (EUROPE 11537 and 11509).
As regards the main components of the inflation, services are expected to see the highest annual rate in April (1.0%, compared to 1.4% in March), followed by food, alcohol & tobacco (0.8%, unchanged from March), non-industrial goods (0.5%, unchanged from March) and energy (-8.6%, compared to -8.7% in March).
Eurozone GDP up 0.6% in first quarter of 2016. Over the first quarter of 2016, and compared to the previous quarter, seasonally adjusted GDP is up by 0.6% in the Eurozone and by 0.5% in the European Union, according to a flash estimate published by Eurostat on Friday. In the fourth quarter of 2015, GDP grew by 0.3% in the Eurozone and by 0.4% in the EU of 28. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)