MADRID: Inflation rose by 0.3 in Spain in November, after staying flat in October, official data showed Friday, amid concern that deflation could dent the recovery in some eurozone countries.
The slight rise in consumer prices was mostly due to higher costs for transportation which was offset by lower prices for food and beverages, the National Statistics Institute said. The figure was harmonised with the European Union's own data.
Spain's own non-harmonised figure, indicated an inflation rate of 0.2 percent, compared to a negative rate of 0.1 percent in October.
Central banks and policymakers regard deflation, meaning a period of falling prices, with deep concern as it can set in motion a vicious spiral of falling demand, rising unemployment and a further fall in demand.
The European Central Bank defines price stability as increases of just below 2.0 percent in its harmonised inflation yardstick.
The bank's chairman Mario Draghi warned last month that the euro zone might be facing a prolonged period of low inflation, but said he did not foresee deflation. Spain, the eurozone's fourth-largest economy, last saw deflation in 2009, when prices fell for eight months in a row.
The country emerged from recession in the third quarter of 2013 by posting export-led economic growth of just 0.1 percent but the unemployment rate remains at 26 percent.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's conservative government is predicting only modest economic growth of 0.7 percent in 2014.
indiatimes.com
The slight rise in consumer prices was mostly due to higher costs for transportation which was offset by lower prices for food and beverages, the National Statistics Institute said. The figure was harmonised with the European Union's own data.
Spain's own non-harmonised figure, indicated an inflation rate of 0.2 percent, compared to a negative rate of 0.1 percent in October.
Central banks and policymakers regard deflation, meaning a period of falling prices, with deep concern as it can set in motion a vicious spiral of falling demand, rising unemployment and a further fall in demand.
The European Central Bank defines price stability as increases of just below 2.0 percent in its harmonised inflation yardstick.
The bank's chairman Mario Draghi warned last month that the euro zone might be facing a prolonged period of low inflation, but said he did not foresee deflation. Spain, the eurozone's fourth-largest economy, last saw deflation in 2009, when prices fell for eight months in a row.
The country emerged from recession in the third quarter of 2013 by posting export-led economic growth of just 0.1 percent but the unemployment rate remains at 26 percent.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's conservative government is predicting only modest economic growth of 0.7 percent in 2014.
indiatimes.com
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