Eurozone consumer price inflation held below the European Central Bank's self-set two per cent ceiling in July, rising to 1.9 per cent year-on-year from 1.8 per cent in June, official estimates showed this morning.
The rebound from June's two-and-a-half-year low makes this the first time since January that the annual rate of inflation has picked up.
The data from the European Union statistics office was below economists' consensus forecast of two per cent.
The report therefore left intact expectations that the ECB will keep its key interest rate unchanged at 3.25 per cent at tomorrow’s policy-setting meeting, the last before its four-week summer break.
The pick-up in the annual inflation rate had been expected in the light of recent national data.