Spain Inflation At 5-Month Low

(RTTNews) - Spain's consumer price inflation softened to a five-month low in March due to lower electricity prices, flash data from the statistical office INE showed on Friday.

Consumer prices gained 2.3 percent year-on-year in March, following a 3.0 percent rise in February.

This was the weakest since October, when prices rose 1.8 percent and also it remained below economists' forecast of 2.6 percent.

Excluding non-processed food and energy, underlying inflation came in at 2.0 percent, which was down from 2.2 percent in February.

EU harmonized inflation also slowed to a five-month low in March. Inflation posted 2.2 percent compared to 2.9 percent in the previous month. On a monthly basis, growth in consumer prices eased to 0.1 percent from 0.4 percent in February. Nonetheless, prices increased for the sixth straight month.

Meanwhile, the harmonized index of consumer prices grew at a faster rate of 0.7 percent after a 0.4 percent gain in February. Final data is due on April 11.