Palma.Consumer prices, based on European Union calculations, rose 2.7 percent from a year earlier, the slowest rate since November, the National Statistics Institute, or INE, said yesterday.
The rate fell from 3 percent in July.
Inflation was 2.9 percent according to the Spanish measure of prices, the Madrid-based institute said.
Struggling economy
Spain's economy is struggling to recover from a three-year slump as households spend less to pay down one of the largest private-debt burdens in the euro region.
Retail sales declined for the 13th month in July, the INE said yesterday, as the 21 percent unemployment rate undermines consumer demand.
European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said yesterday the bank is reviewing its assessment of inflation risks after growth in the euro area slowed.
The comment contrasts with his previous policy statement on August 4, when he said risks to the inflation outlook were on the upside.
Spain's inflation rate remains above the European average, even as its economy is recovering more slowly than the rest of Europe.
Euro-region
Euro- region inflation was probably 2.5 percent in August, unchanged from July, according to the average estimate of 35 economists in a Bloomberg survey.
Spain is more sensitive to changes in the cost of oil than other euro-area countries and inflation should fall below the euro-region average early next year, Bank of Spain Governor Miguel Angel Fernandez Ordoñez said on May 23.
The price of crude oil has fallen 10 percent in the past six months and traded at $87.34 yesterday.
No comments
To be able to write a comment, you have to be registered and logged in
Currently there are no comments.