Annual inflation in the eurozone was unchanged last month from August, at 2.1pc, according to Eurostat. The September figure is above the 2pc limit set by the European Central Bank (ECB) but is better than had been expected. A flash estimate issued by the European Union's statistical office at the end of September said inflation rose to 2.2pc from 2.1pc in August.
In the 15-member EU, annual inflation was 1.9pc in September, also unchanged from August. Ireland recorded the highest annual rate, at 4.5pc, followed by Greece and Portugal, both on 3.8pc. On a month-on-month basis, prices edged up 0.3pc in both the eurozone and the EU, Eurostat said, boosted by a 3.7pc surge in clothing prices as the summer sales came to an end.
The unchanged September reading for the annual rate of inflation in the eurozone follows three months in which inflation rose, after it fell to a 2002 low of 1.8pc in May.
ECB president Wim Duisenberg said last week that he expects inflation will fall just marginally below the bank's upper limit of 2pc in 2003. The central banker also stated that he was against widening the band of "permissable inflation". //www.fxcentre.com