Spain inflation nudges higher in July as both headline and core prices push up
- July final CPI +3.6% vs +3.5% y/y prelim
- Prior +3.2%
- July final HICP +3.9% vs +3.8% y/y prelim
- Prior +3.6%
Spain inflation is confirmed to accelerate again in July, with headline annual inflation seen at 3.6%. That is a notable step up from the 3.2% estimate in June, with the jump owing much to a renewed rise in petrol prices mostly. That was the transportation category move up by 2.3% on annual basis in July, with INE noting that it as mainly driven by higher fuel prices – with the group contributing to 0.365% of overall CPI.
Besides that, core annual inflation was confirmed to accelerate further to 3.0% in July – up from 2.9% in June. So, that figure is still a hot one as it holds much higher than the 2.3% reading in July last year.
So, that’s a signal that the ECB cannot quite rest on its laurels with price pressures still not exactly in sync across the region. While there are cooler signs in the likes of France and Italy, it seems that Germany and Spain are not quite seeing inflation fall back to desired levels just yet.
And that could yet prompt the ECB to need to move again, especially if the US-Iran conflict continues to keep as it is with the Strait of Hormuz in de facto closure.
This article was written by Justin Low at investinglive.com.