Eurozone inflation hits 2% mark as European Central Bank debates policy

Eurozone inflation accelerated to the fastest pace since January 2013, providing fresh arguments to those calling for an exit from the European Central Bank’s monetary stimulus programme.

Consumer prices rose 2% in February from a year earlier, the EU’s statistics agency said yesterday. The rate was 1.8% in January. Rising oil prices have been pushing up inflation across the eurozone, including in Germany, its largest economy, Spain and Italy.

In a sign of further increases ahead, producer-price growth jumped to the highest in almost five years, rising 3.5% in January on an annual basis. Meanwhile, the eurozone’s core inflation, which strips out volatile elements such as energy, was unchanged for the third consecutive month in February at 0.9%.