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1st LD Writethru: German inflation back above zero in Feb.

Xinhua, February 27, 2015 Adjust font size:

German annual inflation got out of its negative territory in February and stood at slightly above zero, official data showed on Friday.

Consumer prices in Germany increased 0.1 percent in February when compared with the same month of previous year, said German federal statistical office Destatis, citing its preliminary estimation.

The annual inflation rate measured by consumer price index (CPI) dropped below zero for the first time since September 2009 in January and stood at minus 0.4 percent.

When measured by the harmonized consumer price index (HCPI), European Central Bank's yardstick, German inflation was estimated to have remained negative at minus 0.1 percent.

According to Destatis, downward pressure on prices development mainly came from energy products. In February, energy prices slumped by 7.3 percent year-on-year, though it had rebounded slightly from the levels in the previous month.

Final data on German inflation was scheduled to be released on March 12. Economists said the Friday figure showed a reduction of deflation risks for Europe's biggest economy.

Starting next month, the ECB is to inject more than one trillion euros (about 1.12 trillion U.S. dollars) into the market via purchasing government bonds and other securities, in a bid to counter the downward trend of inflation in the eurozone.

In January, the HCPI inflation in the common currency area dipped to minus 0.6 percent from minus 0.2 percent in previous month. The ECB, however, set its target of medium-term inflation at below, but close to, 2 percent. Endit