Eurozone inflation has eased for the first time in five months, and European Central Bank policymakers will breathe a sigh of relief

Jinshi Data News on March 3rd, the annual inflation rate in the eurozone in February cooled for the first time in 5 months, which is reassuring news for policymakers at the European Central Bank. Later this week, the bank will hold an Interest Rate decision. The latest data from Eurostat shows that the initial CPI for February in the eurozone recorded 2.4%, lower than the 2.5% inflation rate in January, while the speed of price rises steadily increased for four consecutive months. The core inflation rate (excluding significant fluctuations in energy and food prices) also slowed down, rising by 2.6% in February, compared to 2.7% the previous month. The inflation rate for service prices dropped from 3.9% to 3.7%. Signs of cooling inflation will solidify investors’ expectations that the Governing Council of the European Central Bank will decide to reduce the Benchmark Interest Rate by 25 basis points to 2.5% at Thursday’s meeting.