Euro-area consumer prices up in relief for ECB after deflation scare

Madrid

EURO-AREA consumer prices rose for the first time in six months in May, providing respite for European Central Bank (ECB) policymakers after a deflation scare drove them to unleash a trillion-euro stimulus programme.

The 0.3 per cent annual increase exceeded the 0.2 per cent median forecast of economists in a Bloomberg News survey. Core inflation accelerated to 0.9 per cent, the fastest in nine months, the European Union's statistics office in Luxembourg said on Tuesday.