Greek consumer inflation held stubbornly above the eurozone’s average in 2005, propelled higher by rising fuel prices, data showed yesterday. Inflation accelerated by an average annual rate of 3.5 percent last year from 2.9 percent in 2004, staying more than one percentage point above the eurozone’s inflation rate. The head of the country’s statistics service (NSS), Manolis Kontopyrakis, said fuel, on which Greeks spent more than most European households, was the major factor. “Excluding fuels from both the Greek and eurozone CPI, the (inflation) difference vs the eurozone would be 20 to 30 basis points,” he said. The government is projecting consumer inflation to slow this year, averaging 3.2 percent, a forecast economists say is heavily dependent on the course of oil prices. The government forecasts oil prices will average $61.4 per barrel this year. Greece’s EU-harmonized inflation picked up to 3.5 percent year on year in the same month.
(Reuters)