Germany's EU-harmonised annual inflation rate (HICP) for September was revised down slightly today, but analysts said it would probably not lead to an adjustment to a preliminary estimate for eurozone inflation.
From September 2004, German HICP rose by 2.6 per cent, a tenth of a point lower than had originally been estimated, the Federal Statistics Office said. Month-on-month, prices rose by 0.4 per cent, in line with the initial data.
Surging oil prices pushed eurozone inflation to 2.5 per cent in September from 2.2 percent in August, well above the ECB's target threshold of close to but below two percent, according to a flash estimate by Eurostat.
The European Union's statistics office is due to publish final details of euro zone inflation on October 18th. "The revision in the (German) HICP annual rate is too small to require a downward adjustment of the eurozone rate," said Lothar Hessler, an economist at HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt.
Core inflation, excluding volatile oil and food costs, remained tame both in Germany and the wider euro region and there were no signs of second-round effects such as higher wage demands, Hessler said.
While the European Central Bank was alert to the danger of higher wage accords, the bank's policymakers were unlikely to raise interest rates until next year, he added.
Oil prices hit a record high above $70 per barrel in late August and remained above $65 for much of September. However, they have since fallen by over 10 percent from the record peak.