July inflation in EU still keeping its 1.8% level
As per the data by Eurostat, annual inflation in the EU was stable with 1.8% in July, same as recorded in June and May. The rate a year earlier was 1.9%. Moreover, Eurozone annual inflation for July dropped to 1.9%, slightly down from the 2.0% of June data. Estimated inflation for the month of August is reported to be 2.1%.
According to figures released by the EU statistic agency, member countries which indicated the highest annual rates for July are;
Ireland 3.9%,
Greece 3.5%,
Spain,
Italy and
Portugal 2.9%, whereas the lowest rates were seen in
Germany 0.8%,
Austria and
Finland 1.0%. Apart from the figures above, inflation in
Switzerland declined to 0.3% in July from 0.5% recorded previous month.
Some market analysts comment that low inflation levels in Eurozone, which are below 2%, caused a slow down in economy, arguing that industrial
production in June 2003 showed a 1.6% decrease in Eurozone and 0.7% in EU, over June 2002.