Eurozone Inflation Rises Slightly To 2.1%

Eurozone inflation rose marginally in August but the rate remained near the European Central Bank's 2 percent target, official data revealed on Tuesday.

The harmonized index of consumer prices rose 2.1 percent year-on-year in August, slightly faster than the 2.0 percent increase in July, flash data from Eurostat showed.

Core inflation that excludes prices of energy, food, alcohol and tobacco held steady at 2.3 percent.

On a monthly basis, the HICP increased 0.2 percent in August and core prices moved up 0.3 percent.

Among the main components of inflation, food, alcohol and tobacco showed the highest annual growth of 3.2 percent compared with 3.3 percent rise in July.

This was followed by services, which gained 3.1 percent, after rising 3.2 percent in the previous month.

At the same time, non-energy industrial goods logged a steady growth of 0.8 percent. Meanwhile, energy prices dropped at a slower pace of 1.9 percent following a 2.4 percent fall in July.

With slow growth, significant risks of downside surprises still prevalent, and the Federal Reserve expected to resume cutting rates again, the doves on the governing council of the ECB could still push for one more cut before holding steady, ING economist Bert Colijn said.

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