BRUSSELS (Reuters) – higher prices in restaurants and cafes in addition to rentals and tobacco led the rise in inflation in the euro area in September, according to data published on Monday, offsetting the low prices of fuel and gas.
The statistical office of the European Union, Eurostat confirmed that consumer prices in the 19 countries that use the euro rose by 0.4 percent monthly, in order to advance by 0.4 percent year-on-year, as envisaged by the markets, and in line with the initial estimates from Eurostat.
The statistical agency said that the increase in prices in restaurants and cafes added 0.08 points to the annual result global and the revaluation of rents and tobacco contributed 0,05 points each.
The prices of food, alcohol and tobacco were up 0.7 percent year-on-year in September, and the food raw was a 1.1 per cent more expensive than 12 months earlier.
Despite climbing by 1.0 percent from August, energy prices were 3.0 percent lower than a year ago. Its annual decline was much more moderate than in August, when power prices were down 5.6 percent, reflecting the rise in oil prices.
Without the volatile prices of energy and unprocessed food, or what the European Central Bank called core inflation, prices in the euro zone rose by 0.4 percent in the month, accumulating a 0.8 percent rise year-on-year, staying stable for the fifth consecutive month.
The ECB aims to keep inflation below, but close to 2 percent over the medium term.
To boost the levels of inflation closer to its target, the central bank is buying up to 80,000 million euros monthly in government bonds in the secondary market to inject more money into the banking sector and force banks to lend more to the real economy to boost rates of economic growth and inflation.
(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski. Translated by the Editors of Madrid. Edited by Patricio Abusleme vía Mesa Santiago)
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