Italy’s CPI inflation slows to 0.8% in April

Annual consumer price inflation in Italy has decelerated to 0.8% in April from 1.2% in March, a final estimate by the National Institute of Statistics showed.

The figure compared with a preliminary estimate of 0.9% and reflected the impact of extended restrictive monetary policy by the European Central Bank.

In April, the cost of unregulated energy continued to decrease, by 13.9% YoY after a 10.3% YoY drop in March.

Meanwhile, price increases slowed for transportation (2.7% YoY compared to 4.5% YoY in March), various services (1.8% YoY compared to 2.3% YoY in March), non-durable goods (1.5% YoY compared to 2% YoY in March) and food (2.4% YoY compared to 2.7% YoY in March).

Conversely, prices rose at a faster rate for tobacco (3.3% YoY compared to 1.9% YoY in March) and recreation & culture (3.8% YoY compared to 3.2% YoY in March).

In monthly terms, consumer prices in the country went up 0.1% in April after remaining without change in March.

The Euro was little changed on the day against the British Pound, with the EUR/GBP currency pair last trading at 0.8578.

The minor Forex pair was holding not far from a one-week low of 0.8567, which it registered on Wednesday.