Portugal: Harmonized inflation eases but remains above target in February
Latest reading: Harmonized inflation declined to 2.4% in February from January’s 2.7%. Still, inflation remained above both the ECB’s 2.0% target and the Euro area average of 2.3%. The result was primarily due to a fading impact of VAT exemptions and an energy price hike introduced last year. Looking at the details of the release, a softer rise in transport and hospitality costs, outweighed accelerating price pressures for food and housing.
Still, the trend was unchanged, with annual average harmonized inflation coming in at January’s 2.7% in February. Meanwhile, consumer price inflation edged down to 2.4% in February from January’s 2.5%.
Finally, harmonized consumer prices fell 0.07% in February over the previous month, a less pronounced decrease than the 0.56% fall recorded in January.