Austria Inflation Confirmed At 3.2%

(RTTNews) - Austria's consumer price inflation accelerated as initially estimated in August amid higher fuel and heating oil prices, thee latest data from Statistics Austria showed on Thursday.

The consumer price index climbed 3.2 percent year-over-year in August, faster than the 2.8 percent increase in July. That was in line with the flash data published on September 1.

Inflation based on transportation rose to 7.8 percent from 6.4 percent due to a 26.3 percent surge in fuels costs. The annual price growth in housing and utilities accelerated to 3.3 percent from 2.8 percent. Costs related to restaurants and accommodation services were 4.7 percent higher.

Manuela Lenk, Director General of Statistics at Statistics Austria, noted that the reduction in value-added tax on basic foodstuffs from 10 percent to 4.9 percent helped moderate price pressures. Food prices in August were lower compared with a year ago due to this tax adjustment.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices increased 0.6 percent, as estimated.

The EU measure of inflation, the harmonized index of consumer prices, rose 2.9 percent annually in August, faster than the 2.7 percent increase in July.