Off the wire
• Czech firm wins tender for Zimbabwe's credit reference bureau  • Gov't-backed firms invest in Chinese stock market  • China to keep railway investment momentum: vice premier  • High security levels to protect fans at el Clasico  • LME base metals close mixed on Thursday  • El Nino to bring floods to China's longest river  • China Southern Airlines net profits jump by 117 pct  • U.S. stocks extend rally ahead of Friday's jobs report  • Islamic Development Bank mulls cooperation with COMESA  • Urgent: Belgium agrees to extradite Paris attacks suspect to France: report  
You are here: 　 Home

Eurozone inflation still negative in March: official

Xinhua, April 1, 2016 Adjust font size:

The annual inflation in the 19-country Eurozone was still negative in March, official estimated data showed on Thursday, following the bloc's central bank's surprising efforts to cope with disappointing inflation reading.

The consumer price was expected to fall 0.1 percent this month, said the statistical office of the European Union (EU). The worrying reading came after the minus 0.2 percent in February, and continued to fuel concerns over the European Central Bank(ECB)'s efforts to lift the price.

The declining energy price continued to drag on the whole inflation. In March, its price dropped 8.7 percent, greater than the 8.1 percent last month. However, the price of services was expected to increase 1.3 percent in March.

The ECB announced at its latest policy meeting to cut interest rates to zero and decided to inject more money into the market, trying to pull the inflation back to target at around 2 percent.

Economists cautioned that more policy supports may be needed as the inflation was expected to remain only close to zero in the months to come.

The ECB predicted the inflation would remain in negative territory and pick up later this year. Endit