Inflation & Prices
French and Italian Inflation Keep ECB on Path to Lower Rates
- French consumer prices rose 2.4% from year ago; est 2.8%
- Italy reports inflation at 1.3% in March; estimate 1.5%
Visitors at the viewpoint to the Eiffel tower in Trocadero Square in central Paris.
Photographer: Andrea Mantovani/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
French inflation eased below 3% for the first time in 2 1/2 years and Italy reported a lower-than-expected reading, confirming a trend that has tipped the European Central Bank toward cutting interest rates.
Consumer prices in France, the euro area’s second-largest economy, rose 2.4% from a year earlier in March after a 3.2% gain the previous month, statistics agency Insee said. The slowdown was sharper than the 2.8% forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg.