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Eurostat said consumer prices in the 19 countries sharing the
euro rose by 0.2 percent month-on-month May for a 0.3 percent
year-on-year reading, confirming its earlier estimate. Prices in
April had been flat.
Core inflation, which excludes the most volatile components of
unprocessed food and energy, rose 0.1 percent month-on-month for
a 0.9 percent year-on-year increase.
Eurostat said that in May, more expensive vegetables,
restaurants and cafes and tobacco had the biggest upward impact
on the overall year-on-year inflation value, while cheaper
automotive fuel, heating oil and gas pulled the index down.
The European Central Bank wants to keep the headline measures of
inflation at below, but close to 2 percent year-on-year over the
medium term.
Worried by a trend of falling prices, the bank started buying
government bonds in March to inject more cash in to the economy
and make prices rise again. Some in the market believe the
return of inflation could persuade the ECB to cut short its
quantitative easing (QE), although most ECB policymakers have
said they plan to carry out QE in full.
The ECB expects euro zone inflation to rise to 1.5 percent in
2016 and 1.8 percent, about at its target, in 2017.
(Reporting By Philip Blenkinsop; Editing by Alastair Macdonald)
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