Sweden Inflation Remains Stable At 0.5%

(RTTNews) - Sweden's consumer price inflation held steady in February after rising in the previous month, flash data from Statistics Sweden showed on Thursday.

The consumer price index, or CPI, rose 0.5 percent year-over-year in February, the same as in the previous month. Meanwhile, economists had expected inflation to rise to 0.6 percent.

"The inflation rate according to the flash CPI was unchanged in February, which was mainly affected by a lower price increase on food and by higher housing costs," Mikael Nordin, statistician at Statistics Sweden, said.

Data showed that the consumer price index with a fixed interest rate, or CPIF, also increased at a slower pace of 1.7 percent annually in February versus 2.0 percent in January.

Month-on-month, consumer prices climbed 0.6 percent in February after a 0.1 percent increase in December. The expected increase was 0.8 percent.

The detailed result for the month of February will be published on March 12.