The annual inflation rate in the euro area stood at 8.6% in June, compared with 8.1% in May, according to figures published by the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat) on Tuesday 19 July. In the EU, it was 9.6% in June, compared with 8.8% the previous month.
The lowest annual rates were observed in Malta (6.1%), France (6.5%) and Finland (8.1%). The highest rates were recorded in Estonia (22.0%), Lithuania (20.5%) and Latvia (19.2%). Price inflation was 8.2% in Germany, 8.5% in Italy and 10.0% in Spain.
In June, the highest contributions to the annual euro area inflation rate came from energy (+4.19 percentage points), followed by food, alcohol & tobacco (+1.88 pp).
On Thursday 21 July, the ECB’s Governing Council will decide to increase the Frankfurt-based monetary institute’s three main key interest rates by 0.25%, the first time this has happened in over a decade (see EUROPE 12968/1). On the basis of updated data, it will give more indications on the path of normalisation of monetary policy, with a 0.50% increase at its first meeting after the summer not excluded.
The ECB is also expected to unveil an ‘anti-fragmentation’ tool aimed at preventing a surge in interest rates on the long-term public debt of highly indebted euro area countries. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)