The ECB has increased rates repeatedly to tame red-hot inflation, but the pain is being felt across the eurozone economy. "September's sharp drop in eurozone inflation was largely due to base effects, but core inflation also came in below expectations. ECB chief Christine Lagarde said Monday that she recognised the "pain" of the aggressive rate hikes but insisted they were necessary to tame inflation. He pointed to the recent advance in oil prices and said he expected that "this will mainly push eurozone inflation higher at the start of next year". Germany, Europe's biggest economy, performed better than previous months, with inflation slowing down to 4.3 percent in September from 6.4 percent in August, Eurostat data showed.

Source: Daily Nation September 29, 2023 11:28 UTC