PARIS, June 28 (Xinhua) -- France's consumer price index (CPI) is expected to slow to 2.1 percent year-on-year in June, following a 2.3-percent increase in the previous month, the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) reported on Friday.
According to INSEE's provisional estimate, the slight decrease in inflation could be attributed to the slowdown in food and energy prices throughout the year.
In June, a month ahead of the Olympic Games in Paris, food prices were estimated to have increased by 0.8 percent year-on-year, down from 1.3 percent in May, according to INSEE.
Meanwhile, it expected the prices of services and tobacco to increase at the same rates as the previous month, by 2.8 percent and 8.7 percent, respectively.
This slight increase in inflation follows the European Central Bank's announcement on June 6 that it would cut key interest rates by 25 basis points and maintain policy rates sufficiently restrictive for as long as necessary to achieve its goal of returning inflation to a 2 percent medium-term target.
France's Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire declared at the end of May that the battle against rising prices in France has been won.
Despite the upcoming legislative elections this Sunday, several economists interviewed by the French newspaper Les Echos suggested that the election results are unlikely to have a significant impact on the trajectory of France's inflation. ■
