Greek consumer prices fall 0.4% year-on-year in April, deflation persists

[ATHENS] Greece's annual EU-harmonised inflation rate stayed negative in April for the second month in a row after a positive reading in February, statistics service data showed on Tuesday.

The reading in April was -0.4 per cent, easing from -0.7 per cent in March. Consumer prices were led lower by housing costs, durable goods, foods and non-alcoholic beverages, apparel and footwear.

Economists polled by Reuters were expecting a -0.6 per cent EU-harmonised inflation rate in April.

The data also showed the headline consumer price index fell 1.3 per cent year-on-year, with the annual pace of deflation easing from -1.5 per cent in March.

For years an inflation outlier in the eurozone, Greece has been in deflation mode for the last two and a half years as wage and pension cuts and a protracted recession took a heavy toll on Greek household income.

Deflation in Greece, which signed up to its first international bailout in 2010, hit its highest level in November 2013, when consumer prices registered a 2.9 per cent year-on-year decline.

Eurozone consumer prices halted their slide in March, giving hope to the European Central Bank that its efforts to boost stubbornly low inflation will pay off once energy prices stabilise.

REUTERS