BRUSSELS, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- Eurozone annual inflation is projected at 3.3 percent in August, rising from 2.9 percent in July and reaching its highest level so far this year, according to a flash estimate released Tuesday by Eurostat.
Eurozone inflation stood at 3.2 percent in May, before easing to 2.8 percent in June and edging up to 2.9 percent in July. The August reading marked the second consecutive monthly increase.
The acceleration was driven mainly by energy, whose annual inflation rate jumped to 14.3 percent from 10.3 percent in July. Services inflation, by contrast, eased to 3.0 percent from 3.3 percent. The rate for non-energy industrial goods increased to 1.2 percent from 0.9 percent, while food, alcohol and tobacco inflation remained unchanged at 1.2 percent.
Core inflation, which excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, edged down to 2.4 percent in August from 2.5 percent a month earlier.
Among the eurozone's largest economies, Spain posted the highest inflation rate at 4.5 percent in August, up from 3.9 percent in July. Italy and France each saw increases of 0.3 percentage points, to 3.2 percent and 2.7 percent respectively, while Germany edged up to 2.9 percent from 2.8 percent. Lithuania recorded the highest rate among eurozone countries covered by the flash estimate, at 5.8 percent.
Bert Colijn, ING's chief economist for the Netherlands, wrote Tuesday that the rise in headline inflation was driven by higher energy prices, while core inflation remained relatively benign. He said the jump in headline inflation could make a September rate hike easier to sell, while the subdued core rate could fuel debate over a possible subsequent hike into restrictive territory.
Minutes of the ECB's July monetary policy meeting, published last week, showed that policymakers had anticipated a near-term increase in headline inflation. They noted that the impact of higher energy prices on consumer liquid fuel prices might not yet have been fully reflected in July and could take until August to materialize.
The figures were released just over a week before the ECB's next monetary policy meeting on Sept. 9-10. ■
