(MENAFN- AFP) Eurozone inflation left negative territory in June, the Eurostat statistics agency said on Thursday in a first estimate.
Consumer prices rose a slight 0.1 percent after slipping 0.1 percent in May, the EU agency said.
This was higher than the zero percent forecast by analysts surveyed by data provider Factset and offered good news to the European Central Bank that has been struggling to boost prices in the eurozone.
Energy prices again brought consumer prices lower, dropping by 6.5 percent, but this was less than the negative 8.5 percent a month earlier.
The European Central Bank has embarked on an unprecedented stimulus programme in a desperate battle to kick-start sluggish growth and inflation in the eurozone.
Slow eurozone growth has seen inflation slide in and out of negative territory, threatening a dangerous downward spiral of falling prices and wages. The ECB aims to get inflation back to two percent or just below, a level it deems healthy for growth.
The Frankfurt-based central bank this month took the controversial step of buying corporate bonds, its latest weapon in the fight against deflation that also includes negative interest rates for banks.
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