ECB chief economist Peter Praet said in Geneva today:
- “This negative surprise in core inflation is mainly attributable to a decrease in services inflation, which is likely to be related to developments in volatile items, also reflecting the timing of Easter this year.”
- “On the basis of current futures prices for oil, inflation is likely to hover around 1.5 percent in the coming months,”
Released last week, Eurozone CPI flash slowed to 1.2% yoy in April, down from 1.3%. Core CPI was worse, slowed to 0.7% yoy, down from 1.0% yoy.