Inflation on the rise” “

Eurostat – the EU Statistics Office – published the data relating to inflation in the Euroland countries in early January. For the month of December 2004, the overall rate registered was 2.3%, a slight increase over the 2.2% of the previous month, but still lower than the rate for October, which had touched the record level for 2004 of 2.4%. According to the Eurostat survey – based on the method that measures the index of consumer prices of the Monetary Union (IPCUM) – 2.3% also represents the annual inflation rate of the Euro zone for the year that has just ended. The inflation rate of the countries of the euro thus remains well above the reference level of 2% fixed by the European Central Bank for the monetary policy of the Union: according to the estimates of Brussels, it will not be until 2006 that the EU will succeed in containing inflation below the threshold of 2%, a rate that economists consider “acceptable and physiological”. For further information, consult the website http://europa.eu.int/comm/eurostat