Brussels, 05/11/2001 (Agence Europe) - According to Eurostat data published on Monday, the euro zone annual inflation will be 2.4% in October, representing a drop of 0.1% in relation to the rise in consumer prices observed in September (2.5%). The rate of inflation in the euro zone has thus slowed down for five consecutive months (in May it stood at 3.4%). According to certain economists, this could encourage the European Central Bank (ECB) to cut interest rates, possibly on Thursday, at the Meeting of its Governing Council.
This is the first time that Eurostat has provided a rapid estimate of inflation (flash estimates) in the euro zone (but without figures on a country basis) thanks to a new method using, in addition to traditional tools, 50% of traditional information provided by Member States. For that, Eurostat makes use of preliminary information on prices published especially in Germany and Italy and on the prices of energy.