Eurozone inflation continued to fall in June, edging further away from the ECB’s target despite four years of stimulus programmes.
The inflation figure fell to 1.3 percent June from 1.4 percent, a significant way from the 2 percent target in place by the European Central Bank but above analysts expectations of a drop to 1.2 percent.
in a setback for the European Central Bank as its stimulus programs enter a fourth year.
June’s inflation reading was the lowest so far in 2017, with weaker energy price rises having a negative impact according to a flash estimate from the Eurostat statistics office.
Jennifer McKeown, chief European economist at Capital Economists, said the European Central Bank was unlikely to cut interest rates any time soon.
“The data will add to the ECB’s sense that reflationary pressures are appearing. But core inflation is still well below the Bank’s near-2 percent medium-term target for the headline rate, and its rise has been concentrated in Germany.
“The Bank has repeatedly stressed that it will wait for core inflation to be on a clear upward path throughout the euro-zone before raising interest rates and we suspect that this is still some way off.”
