Eurozone inflation rose in February; CPI up 1.9% annually, above expectations in World Economy News 03/03/2026 Consumer price inflation rose more than expected in the eurozone in February, according to data released Tuesday, which will attract the attention of the European Central Bank as energy prices rise. The consumer price index (CPI) estimate rose by 1.9% annually last month, above the 1.7% January figure, and more than expected. Month-on-month, the reading climbed 0.7% last month after posting a fall of 0.6% in January. Stripping out more volatile items like food and fuel, the “core” number climbed to 2.4% in the twelve months to February, from the 2.2% seen the prior month. The European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged at its first policy meeting of 2026 in early February, reiterating that inflation is expected to stabilize at its 2% target over the medium term. Speaking at the ECB press conference, President Christine Lagarde reiterated that both the central bank and the euro area inflation outlook are in a “good place”, but she also warned that inflation figures may move unevenly in the months ahead, emphasizing that policy decisions should not be driven by any single data release. Additionally, the European Central Bank should keep its options open in setting interest rates as the fallout from the Iran conflict, including a possible rise in inflation, will depend on how long it lasts, ECB policymaker Yannis Stournaras said on Tuesday. The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, which is widening to other countries in the region, is seen as threatening to push up inflation and make a dent in Europe’s already meagre economic growth by making energy more expensive and disrupting supply of other chemicals. Source: Investing.com 2026-03-03 hellenicshippingnews... window.___gcfg = {lang: 'en-US'}; (function(w, d, s) { function go(){ var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0], load = function(url, id) { if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.src = url; js.id = id; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }; load('//connect.facebook.net/en/all.js#xfbml=1', 'fbjssdk'); load('https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js', 'gplus1js'); load('//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js', 'tweetjs'); } if (w.addEventListener) { w.addEventListener("load", go, false); } else if (w.attachEvent) { w.attachEvent("onload",go); } }(window, document, 'script')); tweet Share