Luxembourg, 16/06/2004 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday Eurostat indicated that due to the hike in oil prices Euro-zone annual inflation rose from 2.0% in April to 2.5% in May 2004. The rate registered in May is therefore above the annual 2% objective set by the European Central Bank which remains vigilant and optimistic about long term prices. Eurostat notes that the annual rate of Euro zone inflation increased from 1.8% a year ago and that the monthly rate in May 2004 stood at 0.3%. EU25 annual inflation was 2.4% in May 2004, up from 2.0% in April. A year earlier the rate was 1.7%. Monthly inflation was 0.4% in May 2004. In May 2004, the lowest annual rates were observed in Finland (-0.1%), Lithuania (1.0%), Denmark (1.1%) and Cyprus (1.2%), and the highest rates were recorded in Slovakia (8.2%), Hungary (7.8%), Latvia (6.1%) and Slovenia (3.9%).