High energy costs boosted German consumer prices in March and could cause a delay in inflation for the whole euro zone falling back below the 2 per cent ceiling set by the European Central Bank.

But the ECB has signalled it is in no rush to counter the spike in oil prices with higher interest rates and analysts say the overall inflation downtrend remains intact.

"The ECB might also hold this expectation, so that it shouldn't change too much," said Mr Ralph Solveen at Commerzbank.

German consumer prices rose 0.2 per cent in March and the annual inflation rate accelerated to 1.8 per cent from 1.7 per cent in February, confounding expectations of a steady reading, preliminary data showed on Monday.

A jump in oil prices to recent six-month highs near $25 per barrel outweighed the retreat in food prices, pushing overall inflation higher.

Italy reported a similar effect last week and as the two countries together make up around half the euro-area economy, the figures dampened hopes for a quick drop in inflation in the region.

Euro-zone inflation stood at 2.4 per cent in February and the flash estimate for March, largely based on the German and Italian data, is due on April 2nd. "The rise is mainly due to higher energy prices, from fuel and heating oil. It's all on the back of the clearly higher oil price," said Commerzbank's Mr Solveen.

German producer prices in February also inched up, but the data did not reflect the full effect of the recent rise in oil prices, analysts said.

Analysts said that even though March inflation figures disappointed, only a further strong rise in the oil price could halt the inflation downtrend and recent data did not signal any immediate change in the euro-zone interest rate outlook