Spanish inflation cools for first time in a year

Bloomberg

The inflation rate in Spain weakened this month for the first time in almost a year, possibly prefiguring a broader slowdown across the euro area. Consumer-price growth came in at an annual 2.1 percent in March, weaker than economists had predicted and down from 3 percent in February. The rate is still much stronger than a year ago, when prices were falling, reflecting a jump in energy costs.
In Germany, inflation also probably slowed this month, to 1.9 percent from 2.2 percent, according to the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The decline partly reflects the timing of the Easter holiday, which was in March in 2016.
In the region of Saxony, the pace dropped to 1.8 percent from 2.4 percent. Other state numbers will be released through Thursday morning, before national figures are published 2 p.m. Frankfurt time.
In the euro zone, inflation decelerated to 1.8 percent in March from 2 percent the previous month, a separate survey showed before data is published on Friday. While a slowdown won’t surprise the ECB, which predicted the rate would peak in the first quarter, it’s a reminder that price trends are being largely driven by volatile components such as energy and food.
While a pickup in inflation in the past year has kickstarted a discussion about the central bank’s monetary policy stance, President Mario Draghi has said he’s waiting for assurances that the improvement is broad based and sustainable. ECB Chief Economist Peter Praet said this week that it’s too soon to start discussing when to withdraw stimulus.