German inflation slows as ECB moves to curb stimulus

Bloomberg

German inflation slowed, underscoring the challenge the European Central Bank will face in 2018 as it gradually removes its stimulus program.
Consumer prices rose an annual 1.6 percent, the Federal Statistics Office said. Inflation has remained tepid in Germany even as record-low unemployment bolsters private consumption and a recovery in global trade
fuels exports and investment.
The Bundesbank this month lifted its projections for growth in Europe’s largest economy through 2019 and said it expects momentum to remain strong over the coming year. It
sees inflation accelerating to 1.9
percent in 2020.
The German number comes a week before data for the euro area, where consumer-price gains are expected to slow to an annual rate of 1.4 percent. The ECB has already warned that inflation will slow temporarily in the coming months before accelerating again later in 2018.
Earlier, President Mario Draghi stopped short of declaring that the
inflation goal will be met in 2020,
although he expects underlying pr-
ice pressures to rise gradually over the medium term as the euro-
area economy enjoys its best growth in a decade.