Eurozone Inflation Stuck In The 'Danger Zone'

The euro looked poised to finish off the shortened week on a high note as it remained steady at $1.3838 at 8:05 GMT on Thursday morning. The common currency has held on to its buoyancy despite inflation data which put further pressure on the ECB to ease.

The eurozone’s March inflation figure was confirmed at 0.5 percent on Wednesday, adding to growing worries that the bloc could slip into a period of deflation. The confirmation also put more pressure on the ECB, as the figure is the region’s lowest inflation rate since November of 2009.

According to Reuters, the European Union’s statistics office Eurostat showed that core inflation, which excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, fell to 0.7 percent in March from 1.0 percent in February. The inflation rate excluding unprocessed food and energy was 0.9 percent, which beat expectations but was still a sizable drop from February’s 1.1 percent.

The data confirmed that the eurozone is in what the ECB has called the “danger zone”, which some believe could push the bank to step in with more economic stimulus measures at next month’s meeting. However, at the last meeting bank President Mario Draghi explained away the region’s disappointing inflation figures and said the bank needs more data in order to make an informed decision.

Some analysts have said they expect to see eurozone inflation rebound to 0.9 percent in April as travel prices pick up for the Easter holiday. This year, the holiday fell later than usual and could be responsible for the lack of price pressure.