Eurozone inflation in March revised up to 2.7 percent

Annual inflation in the euro zone rose to 2.7 percent in March, higher than previously forecast and exceeding the 2-percent target preferred by the European Central Bank (ECB) to maintain price stability.

Eurostat, the European Union (EU)'s statistics office, had estimated that inflation in the 17-country euro zone would stand at 2.6 percent in March.

The revised figure was further up from 2.4 percent in February and much higher than the 1.6 percent registered a year ago.

Rising energy and commodity prices were the main reason for the jump in eurozone inflation. In March, energy prices in the euro zone grew by 13 percent compared with the same period last year.

It marked the fourth month that eurozone inflation stayed above the two percent ceiling preferred by the ECB.

The increasing inflation risk in the eurozone strengthened the case for the ECB to get tougher in its mission to ensure price stability, but analysts warned any hasty move would put debt-laden eurozone members in jeopardy.

Struggling with a sovereign debt crisis, countries like Greece, Ireland and Portugal were still working hard to pull their economies out of recession. A tightened monetary policy would make their life more miserable.

Meanwhile, annual inflation in the 27-nation EU increased to 3.1 percent in March, up from 2.9 percent in February and 2.0 percent a year earlier, Eurostat said.

Among EU member states, the lowest annual rate was observed in Ireland, which was 1.2 percent, while the highest in Romania, 8.0 percent.

Source: Xinhua