Eurozone inflation grew to 1.9% in February
ECB is closely monitoring the situation in the Middle East and its impact on prices with just over two weeks to go before its next meeting
Eurozone inflation rebounded slightly in February to 1.9%, up from 1.7% in January.
According to provisional data published by Eurostat on Tuesday, prices also rose by 0.1% in Spain, reaching 2.5% and making it the fifth eurozone country with the highest inflation in February, behind Slovakia (4%), Croatia (3.9%), Lithuania and Germany (both with 3.2%).
Services increased slightly (up 3.4%, compared with 3.2% in January). The contribution of non-energy industrial goods (by 0.7%, compared with 0.4%) and energy (-3.2%, compared with -4% in January) also increased. Food, alcohol and tobacco remained stable at 2.6%.
With just over two weeks until the next meeting of the European Central Bank (ECB) in Frankfurt, there are concerns over the war tensions in the Middle East.
The area, and in particular the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea, are of vital importance for European energy imports and trade. The EU's oil imports from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq and the UAE and liquefied natural gas from Qatar pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
On Monday, Brussels announced that it would closely monitor the price of energy. Later this week, the EU is holding a meeting with member states and the International Energy Agency to discuss the issue.
How this conflict will impact inflation remains to be seen.
