BERLIN (Reuters) -German inflation eased slightly more than expected in March, preliminary data from the federal statistics office showed on Tuesday.
German inflation eased in March to 2.3%. German consumer prices, harmonised to compare with other European Union countries, had risen by 2.7% year-on-year in February.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, was at 3.3% in March.
Economists pay close attention to German inflation data, as the country publishes its figures a day before the release of euro zone inflation data on Wednesday.
“The combined message from the data in Germany, France, Italy and Spain is that the eurozone headline harmonised inflation will undershoot the consensus this week significantly,” said Claus Vistesen, chief eurozone economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.
Euro zone inflation is expected at 2.6% in March, unchanged from the previous month, a Reuters poll of economists shows.
The European Central Bank (ECB) has raised interest rates by the most in the euro’s history to bring inflation down from double digits.
ECB chief Christine Lagarde said in March the eurozone’s inflation rate was set to keep falling, while economic growth would start picking up during the year.
A growing number of ECB policymakers have supported rate cuts, with a June meeting shaping up as the most likely time for action, although there is also a meeting set for this month.
(Reporting by Maria Martinez and Miranda Murray, Editing by Rachel More)
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