(MENAFN- Saudi Press Agency)
Luxembourg, Ramadan 25, 1437, June 30, 2016, SPA -- Eurozone inflation moved back into positive territory in June, increasing for the first time since January, according to data released on Thursday, according to dpa.
Consumer prices moved up 0.1 per cent, after falling 0.1 per cent in May, the EU statistics agency Eurostat said in a preliminary estimate.
The figure exceeds analysts'' expectations that prices would remain unchanged, but remains far below the ECB''s inflation target of just below 2 per cent.
Earlier this month, the Frankfurt-based bank started buying investment-grade corporate bonds as part of a 1.74-trillion-euro (1.93-trillion-dollar) stimulus package aimed at ending weak consumer prices and keeping the 19-member eurozone on an economic growth path.
Eurozone inflation has hovered around the 0-per-cent mark in recent months, as fears of deflation have dogged the currency area. European officials have argued that external factors such as oil prices have kept rates low, rather than across-the-board drops in price levels.
Energy prices continued to fall in June, by 6.5 per cent, after dropping by 8.1 per cent in May, Eurostat found.
--SPA
16:10 LOCAL TIME 13:10 GMT
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