PARIS, Aug 31 (Reuters) – Inflation slowed slightly in France in August thanks to a lull in energy prices, the first estimate published by INSEE on Wednesday showed, a lull that should not prevent the Bank European Central Bank (ECB) to continue raising its interest rates as of next week.
The index of prices harmonized with European standards (HICP), which facilitates comparisons with other countries in the euro zone, is up by 6.5% on an annual basis after +6.8% in July, its most high level since the beginning of this statistical series in 1996. The Reuters consensus gave it an increase of 6.7%.
The national consumer price index (CPI) posted an increase of 5.8% over one year after +6.1% in July.
The breakdown of the figures shows that the increase in energy prices has slowed to 22.2% year on year after reaching 28.5% last month.
On the other hand, the rise in food prices accelerated further to reach 7.7% compared to August 2021, after +6.8% a month earlier, as did that in the prices of manufactured products (+3 .5% after +2.7% with the end of the sales) while that of services remained stable at 3.9% annually.
In total, prices thus increased by 0.4% over one month in August after +0.3% in July, specifies INSEE.
Although the rise in prices has reached a level unprecedented for 40 years, France remains, after Malta, the country of the European Union in which it is the most contained, thanks mainly to the measures implemented by the public authorities to cushion the impact of soaring energy prices on households and businesses.
In Germany, the rise in prices reached 8.8% over one year in August after 8.5% in July according to the provisional estimate published Tuesday by Destatis, the federal institute of statistics, and in Spain, if it has slowed down slightly, it remains above 10%.
The ECB, which fears an “anchoring” of inflation, i.e. a persistent rise in prices which fuels inflationary expectations and becomes difficult to curb while undermining the credibility of the monetary authorities, has already raised its rates by half a point last month.
The markets were still expecting it to announce a further 50 basis point hike on September 8, but several of its officials have raised the possibility of a three-quarter point hike in recent days.
In its latest forecasts, published in June, the ECB forecast inflation of 6.8% in the euro zone as a whole this year, more than three times the level at which it wishes to contain the rise in prices.
(Written by Marc Angrand, edited by Jean-Stéphane Brosse)