Frankfurt: Eurozone inflation rose slightly in August, remaining close to the European Central Bank's target of 2 percent, likely reinforcing market bets that interest rates will remain unchanged in the near term.
Data released by the European Union's statistics office showed Tuesday that inflation in the 20 countries using the euro rose from 2 percent in July to 2.1 percent last month, driven by higher unprocessed food prices and less pressure from lower energy costs.
Conversely, the most closely watched core inflation figure, which excludes volatile food and fuel prices, stood at 2.3 percent, above expectations for a 2.2 percent decline.
The data confirms the European Central Bank's expectation that inflation will remain around the target level until the end of the year, as slightly higher commodity prices and stable energy prices offset some of the impact of strong growth in food and services prices.
