The ECB expects inflation in Europe to continue falling, despite pressures

“We expect inflation in the euro zone to continue to decline. However, this outlook remains surrounded by considerable uncertainties“, said Lagarde in a speech published on the ECB website.

after a pick up last yearinflation in the eurozone has been declining and, according to Lagarde, this trend will continue “as price pressures ease and monetary policy increasingly dampens demand“.

However, Lagarde warned that The ECB remains cautious in its forecasts due to “numerous upside and downside risks.”

“Nails pressures stronger on the supply chains or higher-than-expected wage or benefit increases could lead to increased inflation“, he claimed.

Despite five consecutive months of decline, inflation remains at a very high level in the euro area, at 6.9% in March and the ECB believes that it will not reach its inflation target of around 2% until 2025.

To counter inflation, the institution has already raised its interest rates by 3.5 percentage points since July and intends to continue.

Inflation in Spain slowed down sharply in March, to 3.3% year-on-year, mainly due to a decline in the prices of electricity and fuel, according to the final estimate published this Friday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

This data shows a decline more than two and a half points below that registered in February (6%). Inflation underlyingwhich does not take into account some prices, such as energy, and which corrects for seasonal variations, is On the contrary, it remained high, at 7.5% year-on-year, one tenth less than in February (7.6%).

On the other hand, inflation France reached 5.7% year-on-year in Marchdriven by food prices, according to the final estimate published on Friday by the French National Statistics Institute (INSEE).

In February it was of 6.3%, thanks to the slowdown in energy prices. Inflation underlying stood in March at the 6.2% YoYl, after 6.1% in February.