The average rate of inflation in the eurozone remained above the European Central Bank's target again in March as energy prices continued to rise. The eurozone's harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP) rose 0.6pc in March from February and was up 2.4pc from a year earlier, EU statistics office Eurostat said. The figure is unchanged from the provisional estimate and unchanged from February, when the HICP hit its highest level in 10 months. Inflation in the eurozone has been above the ECB target for the past eight months and the IMF has said the bank should adopt a more realistic inflation target of 2.5pc.
But rising oil costs ahead of the war in Iraq have played a major factor in boosting consumer prices and the ECB expects the decrease in crude oil prices over the past two weeks to contribute to a decline in inflation to less than 2pc later this year. In March, energy prices rose 1.1pc from February, according to Eurostat, while clothing prices jumped 4.9pc. Ireland continues to have the highest level of inflation in the EU, at 4.9pc in March, followed by Greece at 3.9pc. //www.fxcentre.com